Hold Fast Hope
by Maguffin2
Summary: She ran and suddenly found comfort from Him. His past and origins become her puzzle, and he comes to find new questions for himself. Naruto/Ino, Current Manga Based Spoilers. Discontinued/Rewriting.
1. It Rained

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto, etc, etc. This isn't a Ino/Shika, Ino/Chou fic.

Also, this is like.. A day or so after the scanlation of Chapter 328 came out, so… for future reference, obviously this story won't follow the Naruto storyline after this. This fic is _supposed _to be a **ONE SHOT**. Yet, possibilities exist… anyway, read on!

* * *

_"... let's find the place where sight begins  
and see the things that we saw when our  
eyes were bright and wet against the light_

_and hold on  
hold tight  
open daylight  
we will overcome"_

**_Thrice, Flags of Dawn _**

* * *

The sky was still pouring as team 10 and their ninja comrades slowly walked through the gates of Konoha carrying the still and cold body of Sarutobi Asuma. Shikamaru was still clutching the pack of cigarettes and lighter that he had taken from his sensei, while Chouji was walking next to the ninja carrying Asuma. 

None of the ninja present knew how they were going to tell Kurenai, and none hoped that _they_ would have to be the one's to speak to her.

In midst of the rain as the gate of Konoha closed behind them, Ino held her arms tightly around herself, trying to fend of the cold that had suddenly overcome her. As a medic-nin, she now felt the full weight of what it was like to not be able to save a comrade-in-arms.

She unconsciously shivered, trying to keep in her body's warmth to keep the seeping cold of death from clawing at her skin. It was a terrible feeling, her personal doubt at being able to make Asuma proud in the wake of, and after his death. Ino could already feel her rock-like resolve dissolving like salt in the midst of the storm. Her eyes burned from her now depleted tears, and her vision was blurred by the rain that helped to replace the lack of them. Her body felt heavy from the weight of what had transpired that day, and suddenly she was struck with a desperate need.

Slowly, she felt the buildings of Konoha tower over and enclose themselves upon her as a sense of claustrophobia set in.

**_Run!_**

The word echoed throughout her mind and body, over and over again until she finally succumbed to her instinct.

Shikamaru was too dazed to notice her frantic leave while Chouji couldn't go after her, for he had finally come to the decision and felt that _he_ should be the one to tell Kurenai about Asuma's passing.

So Ino ran through the streets, from rooftop to rooftop until she found herself at the edge of the stream that snaked it's way through Konoha. It was there, in the light encompass of trees that she collapsed onto her backside and pulled her knees close to her chest, hugging them as a lifeline as she buried her face into her knees. She heaved a loud, yet silent sob as she shook in the cold and unrelenting downpour of rain. She wanted to be alone, away from the sympathy and looks. She couldn't stand how desolate Shikamaru looked, how accepting Chouji was in light of his tears, how silent and mourning the other ninja were…

Time passed as Ino mourned her sensei, her clothes thoroughly drenched as much as she was to the bone. Slowly throughout her time spent by the stream, she had started to feel tired from the cold and her grief, and slowly let her mind succumb to much-needed sleep.

Yet, just as she was about to let go of her consciousness completely, the rain slowly began to stop and dry warmth suddenly surrounded her. Her body jerked into awareness, causing her stiff joints to protest rather loudly as she became aware of her surroundings once more. The sun was lightly shining through the grayed sky, though it still seemed to hold the melancholy of grief. It's warm hands slowly wrapped around her chilled skin, slowly seeping into her core as she stared out into the expanse of sky. It was after a long while that she finally realized that there was more than just the sun warming her.

Ino shifted her body, slowly getting her blood to circulate as she slowly put her arms through the sleeves of the black and orange jacket that had been placed around her. She slowly stood up and stretched out her limbs before understanding finally came to her mind.

Looking around her, Ino took a deep breath, pulled Naruto's jacket closer around herself, and started walking.

Ino pondered the fact that Naruto had found her, placed his jacket around her, and than left her in peace without so much as making the sound of a breath. Had she really been _that_ out of it, that she hadn't sensed the blonde come into her own personal space?

She breathed deep, taking in the scent of the freshly fallen rain, and Naruto's own personal scent. She suddenly found herself surprised that his jacket smelled of something that reminded her of fresh morning dew in the midst of something just barely citrus in nature instead of something like musky ramen. Ino smiled slightly as she passed the inquisitive stares of a few villagers who had decided to brave the outdoors and get some last minute shopping in before dinner. No one approached her though, as they gave her enough room to pass by like a phantom through the streets of Konoha, before coming up to her family's flower shop and entering with a small chime of the bell placed above the door.

Her mother was slightly startled by her sudden appearance, and watched as Ino simply nodded in greeting before going up to her room silently to get out of her soaked clothing and take a bath to fully warm and cleanse herself. Ino removed Naruto's jacket, asking her mother if she would please dry it out a bit so that she could wear it by the time she was finished, before picking out a few things and entering her bathroom.

When she was finished, Ino dressed herself and then entered her room while toweling her hair a bit to get the extra water and moisture out before blow-drying it. While she did this her mother silently entered her room and put Naruto's jacket upon her bed and paused for a moment.

After a moment's insecurity her mother spoke, "Ino…? Are you going to be alright?"

Ino paused in her hair-drying and looked at her mother for a moment, contemplating before answering, "I don't know."

He mother nodded and smiled softly, "Well, just don't forget that you have friends and family to help you through, alright?"

Ino nodded slightly and returned to her current task. Once finished, Ino left her hair down and instead put a clip in her hair to keep her bangs out of her face before going over to her bed and picking up Naruto's jacket. She examined it a moment, contemplating, before putting it once more. She then walked downstairs to where her parents were setting up dinner, her father giving her a very slight apologetic smile.

Ino smiled slightly even though she was still a bit down, before speaking, "Uhm… would it be alright if I went to Naruto's for a little while? I'm not sure for how long that I'll be out but… I'll be back later tonight, alright?"

Her parents nodded in understanding; even in their apprehension they knew that Ino didn't need their sympathy and that Naruto would probably be the best person for their daughter to be with for now. All of their lingering personal trepidation and prejudice was shoved aside for their daughter in the wake of her grief, for what demon would bother themselves to try and keep their daughter from a death of a cold if he had no heart? No feelings? The two parents knew that there was no need for the hatred towards the fox-child, and fully let theirs go. If the younger children and some of the ninja could respect him, they could as well. They had felt this way for a long time now, but now these feelings reinforced themselves as they watched Ino silently leave with a small chime to follow her exit.

Ino on the other hand, simply made her way towards where Sakura had told her that Naruto lived, ignorant of her parents' acceptance of the village "menace."

It took her a good 15 minutes on foot to reach the somewhat run-down apartment, and another few to walk up the dingy stairs up towards the floor Naruto stayed. Ino made the note that no one had used the stairs for quite some time since they were in a pretty sorry state, and that it was probably expected that it was a ninja living there alone, as she heard no other residents/civilians in the complex.

When Ino finally found herself in front of Naruto's door, she suddenly felt a sense of awkward self-doubt fill her. What if this wasn't Naruto's apartment? What would she say to him if it was? She soon found herself exasperated and sighed heavily before finally knocking on his door loudly.

It only took a moment for him to answer the door, yet it felt like ages to Ino as he suddenly swung the door open with his eyes scrunched up together in agitation, "What's with all that loud knocking!? All you had to do was knock twice! You probably upset the whole neighborhood with how loud you were!"

Ino took a step back, startled by his greeting. Well, if anyone could be himself, it was Naruto, even if yelling was not something one usually would do to someone who was grieving.

It was after his outburst that Naruto opened his eyes and blinked a few times in recognition, "Ino..? What are you doing here…? I thought you'd be with that lazy bum or Chouji…"

Ino shrugged off her slight annoyance and looked around herself a moment, suddenly feeling uncomfortable, "Uhm… Would you mind if I came in Naruto?"

Naruto's eyes widened a moment before he seemed to suddenly check himself and moved aside, fully opening his door, "Uh.. Sure. There's not much to look at so… Don't get _too_ excited."

Ino gave a ghost of a smile before going in and taking a look around her. To her amazement, Ino found that Naruto's apartment carried his scent around as well along with the fact that it was _clean_.

Clean and orderly did _not _fit her image of the most hyperactive ninja of Konoha. Yet, Naruto _was_ always good at surprising people…

Ino found herself smiling as she looked around his apartment, enjoying the simplicity of it all, despite the signs that Naruto seemed to be updating a few things (such as his wardrobe) at the time.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck as he watched her for a moment before asking, "Would you like some tea Ino..?"

She looked to him and nodded slightly before moving into his 'living room/bedroom' and examined the large ink painting that hung over his bed. It wasn't that it was some sort of masterpiece, but somehow, the simplicity of the work caused her to look at it for a while.

In the meantime, Naruto prepared the tea and watched her from the corner of his eye, half wondering if she was ever going to return his precious orange jacket to him. At the same time, he found he wouldn't mind if she kept it for some strange reason.

Shrugging himself out of his momentary trance, he took out the package of tea he'd received as a welcome home gift from someone (he couldn't remember who) and fixed up two cups.

"Hey Ino?"

She turned and looked at Naruto, taking in his black shirt that had an orange spiral design on the back, and his black pants. It was odd to see him with so much black, but at the same time, she decided that even _Naruto_ needed a small break from all that orange.

It was that, or he had his regular orange pants in the laundry.

She then noticed that he also wasn't wearing his hitai-ate, leaving his hair to be even more unruly than usual. It amazed her that a simple headband could tame his hair the way it did, yet, without it on she found him to actually be rather… attractive. His eyes seemed a tad less open-like-a-book and a tad more mysterious and serious this way. It was is if he were just barely becoming the phantom of… someone she simply couldn't place.

Naruto watched Ino check him out (after being with Jiraiya for 3 years, and getting hit on by girls who thought he was just "So cuute!" he stopped getting nervous about it) and decided to snap her out of it, "Oy.. Ino? Earth to Ino!"

Ino seemed to bolt into coherence and blushed lightly, realizing that one of Naruto's arms was slightly outstretched, trying to hand off to her some tea. She smiled a little in thanks, finally realizing just how thirsty she was. Taking in the scent of the tea she sipped it quietly, finding that Naruto could make a perfect cup and in just the way she liked it. Her smile grew and she appreciated the warmth that the cup of liquid was lending her still slightly chilled body.

Of course, while Ino was enjoying the tea, Naruto decided to check _her_ out. Honestly, it was the return favor for spending time _actually_ ogling him. It was a nifty trick he'd realized when dealing with girls. Honest flattery was _everything_. Of course, that _was_ also within reason. Telling a random girl she had a nice bust and so forth usually caused injury on the speaker's part, which he'd learned from watching Jiraiya get slapped around all the time.

Her figure was decent for having been a ninja, and he snapped to the attention that her hair was down. This fact alone enhanced her looks and caused him to admire her hair color and length, along with the way it shaped her face. Yup, Yamanaka Ino was rather stunning with her hair down. Of course, the fact she was wearing his jacket still somewhat threw him for a bit of a loop, as it didn't detract from her figure too much, and looked just about right without the necessity of perfection. He also noted that she was wearing pants similar to his own to match the black of his jacket. This caused Naruto a moment of oddity, as black and orange were very un-Ino-ish colors to wear.

He was amazed she could stand it, really.

Of course, this made him smile a little as he finished his tea and set his cup in the sink to wash later. "So, Ino… Why are you here?" To be truthful, Naruto didn't think Ino would immediately come to return his jacket, since he figured she'd be too dazed from Asuma-sensei's death…

He shuddered, thinking back to when the Old Man had died, and felt a bit of grief seep in.

Ino watched him for a moment before replying, "I was wondering what you were doing near the bridge…"

Naruto paused before pulling up a chair and sitting on it. He motioned for Ino to sit, so she did; on his bed. It wasn't like there was a large space between them since Naruto's apartment was insanely small, which gave her a greater understanding of probably why he loved to run around so much. Being on his bed also told Ino that he must have just recently replaced the mattress, since it had a feeling of 'new' and not 'used.'

Ino watched Naruto squirm a little bit before he finally answered her, "Well, I was nearby when I saw you suddenly run off from your comrades and… Well, Chouji noticed me when you guys returned and kind of signaled for me to follow you when you ran and I uh.. Well, I was there the whole time you were and uh.."

Ino's face turned from listening to agitated as he went on, "You mean you were there when I was-!"

Naruto stood abruptly, flailing his arms a bit, "Don't assume I was stalking you or something!! Honest! I was just watching you to make sure you didn't do anything stupid, or, or uh.. Well, passed out in the rain! You could've gotten pneumonia or something, with how long you were in that rain!!!"

Ino huffed and pouted for a moment, deciding to give Naruto the benefit of the doubt, "So, if that's the case, why didn't you come out and talk to me or something?"

Naruto blinked a moment, tilting his head to the side questioningly, "Would you have wanted me to talk to you?"

Ino stared at him a moment, "No."

Naruto nodded, leaning back in his chair, "Exactly! I could tell you didn't want anyone to bother you, so I stayed hidden until I realized you were falling asleep. After I left, I went and told your mother not to worry about you, and that you'd probably be home within the hour."

Ino looked at him skeptically before deciding to ask, "How would someone like you be able to tell that I needed time alone to myself..?"

Naruto blinked at her, a flash of hurt going through his eyes for just barely a moment, causing Ino to wonder if she'd seen it at all as he shifted in his chair and turned his head away from her. He propped his chin on a propped hand as his gaze dropped downwards, "I need time to myself too, Ino." _Even if I hate being alone._

She blinked, suddenly feeling a bit guilty, as if she had assumed that Naruto never had his feelings hurt, "That's… not what I meant to say…"

Naruto smiled, "I know."

Ino watched him for a longer moment, the silence causing him to look at her. After a moment, his stare turned slightly curious, "What?"

Ino tilted her head slightly to the side, "For some reason you remind me of someone, yet… I can't even think of who it could be."

Naruto rose an eyebrow, "Uh… ok..?"

Ino paused a moment, "What's with the scar's on your cheeks?"

Naruto jerked slightly, startled as if he'd been burned, "What about them..?"

Ino shook her head, "Nothing, never mind. I shouldn't have said anything, but anyway… I'm glad to know I wasn't alone, even though I hadn't known you were there at the time. If I'd been truly alone and someone had come to attack me… It would have been the end for me, neh?"

Naruto shifted, "Uh… probably."

Ino nodded to herself, placing her empty tea cup on the floor beside her feet and got up, stretching herself out, "Thanks, Naruto. Maybe we should hang out more often, even if you _are_ still a Genin."

With that she gave him an honest smile, opened the door, and left him with a small click of his door shutting behind her.

Naruto blinked a few times while he stared at his door dumbly, "What was all that just now..?" Suddenly, realization struck as he straightened out and stood, "Hey! She's still got my jacket!"

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_**Author**: Hoped you enjoyed it. Please review!! XD This was 7 pages almost exactly, and for some reason took me like… 3-4 hours. How troublesome._

_If you have a feeling this should go somewhere, I'm open to ideas. Whether or not I act on them is a completely different story, though. **Please** Review._


	2. A Nice Cafe

Disclaimer: I Don't Own Naruto. If I did, I'd then have a job, which means money!!! Woah! That also mean's I'd have something to put on my resume, which I have _nothing_ even though I'm _20_! DX

A/N: I'm totally making assumptions from the end of chapter 330 in the manga right now. Let's just say I screamed 'EVIL CLIFFHANGER!!! DX' on that one. Honestly, I wanna know who the king is!! DX But anyway, the Kakashi and Naruto moment in that chapter was amusing. Oh! Finally, Naruto looks totally hot (I know, I'm pathetic) all angsty, in the Konohamaru moment.

A/N2: I'm going to take advantage of a filler episode series, when Naruto went Kyuubi against that fish dude and experiment girl (He ended up summoning Gamanbunta). Y'know, the one with Anko, Ino, Shino, and Naruto. Yes, totally taking advantage of the filler. How disgusting.

* * *

_rain rain rain on my mind  
i've got a secret life  
wipe wipe wipe it away  
nothing can make me dry  
fight all the while  
fight till i think i'm free  
fear reigns so we never see  
beautiful secret lives_

**_Copeland, Choose the One who Loves you More_**

* * *

Naruto laid awake throughout the night before Asuma's funeral contemplating, and for some reason, found it in himself to begin worrying. Asuma had been a wind user, yet the guy he faced, from the information he'd gathered about the Akatsuki member was worrisome. Someone who seemingly couldn't die? He knew they were a group of obsessed psycho's, but _damn_. One can only go so far before hitting a wall of speculation on _that_ accord. Whoever'd heard of an ability to never die? 

Well, that probably explained why Orochimaru- that bastard- had joined Akatsuki.

Naruto sighed heavily and closed his eyes for a short while before he turned over in and out of bed, deciding that if he honestly couldn't sleep that he'd just get ready for the funeral now and take a walk. His mind was too filled with questions and at the rate that he was going, he'd never get the answer's. Naruto might not have been _academically_ intelligent, but he _was_ smart. It was just that people enjoyed ignoring that fact about him. Of course, it _was_ mostly his fault, gallivanting around in _orange_ the way he did and pulling pranks (especially his sexy no jutsu). Oh well, at least he'd gained a little 'teenage angst' and used _black _instead of _blue_.

See? He was learning! Black was a ninja color- a cliché one, but a ninja color non-the-less!

Deciding that he really needed to get started for the upcoming day, Naruto concentrated on the usual every-day-essentials (he _was_ hygienic. One simply can_not_ ignore bad stenches with the slowly… or... rather, rapidly growing sense of smell he was developing) and once finished, made his merry way outside.

In the meantime, Ino was preparing herself for the day ahead. She was sort of upset with Shikamaru for picking Asuma-sensei's bad habit of habitual smoking, but after a very loud screaming match, she conceded to the thought behind it and left it alone. She knew tomorrow would be when they'd head out, and she was feeling both excited and apprehensive. Yet, she knew… no, _felt_ it'd be alright.

Sighing, Ino stretched and got up deciding that now would be as good a time as any to get ready for Asuma-sensei's funeral. So, after about 15 minutes Ino found herself waltzing the silent streets of Konoha in the early morning. Ino breathed deeply, taking in the scent of the start of morning dew in the midst of a rainy season and looked at the still-dim sky. She smiled, enjoying the view while she could (heaven knew she didn't look up at the sky for leisure too much).

Naruto sighed in slight frustration as he found just how _boring_ early morning could be. Heck, he lived on the worse side of town, yet not a single soul was awake! How pathetic was that!?! Other than a few random ninja running around, things were silent.

Naruto pondered if even the crickets were asleep.

It was then when he heard the sound of someone walking, and noticed a morning café with its lights on, casting a soft warm glow onto the still-dark street. Raising a curious eyebrow, he decided to check the place out.

At the same time, Ino noticed Naruto on the very same street as her, and decided to go talk with him.

She _did_ still have one of his _precious_ jackets at home.

Once she was within about seven feet of him, she paused and looked the young teen over, sizing him up as he read the menu of the establishment they stood in front of.

It was then that she came to realize how the café's light was hitting his face, and the shadows that were produced were rather… _irregular_. And this came from the girl who had a teammate who could _manipulate_ his shadow.

Bridging the space between them, Ino made her presence more well known, "Hey there Naruto."

Slightly startled, Naruto turned to her, "Ino! W-what are you doing up at this hour?"

Ino smiled slightly, noting how Naruto was already dressed in his funeral attire, just like she was, "Well, I was awake and decided to take a nice walk." Looking at the café, she thought a moment before asking, "You ever been here Naruto?"

The aforementioned boy shook his head, "No, not really. Is it even open now?"

Ino smiled, "Well sure. Wanna grab a light breakfast with me here, then? Since you're so curious and all…"

Naruto smiled a little abashedly and apprehensively, "Well, alright." _So long as they aren't avid haters…_

Ino smiled at his 'shyness' and took his hand, pulling him in. Once inside, Naruto took in the wonderful aroma of coffee, pastry, and something he could only call _warm_. He also took note of the cocoa and grayish purple walls with tables and chairs that made the place feel like _home_ and _comfy_ to him. Ino then dragged the boy over to an entrance-side table and turned back towards the kitchen, "Ran-san!!! You have two customers who'd like a vanilla latte each, k?"

After a small commotion, a young woman with chocolate brown hair that was pulled up in a simple pony-tail, with blue eyes and wearing a nice purple button-up with jeans combo came out and smiled at the two, "Sure thing! I'll even bring out some of those pastries you like so much, Ino-sama!"

Nodding, Ino turned to Naruto, who seemed slightly surprised and perhaps… a little put out? "What's wrong with you?"

He blushed, rubbing the back of his head slightly embarrassed, "Uh, oh nothing… I was just a little surprised. I've never seen uhm.. Ran-san around before…"

Ino smiled, "Well of course not! Ran came into Konoha from a bordering village to set up this coffee shop about a year and a half ago. I don't know if you like coffee or anything, but the latte's here are awesome."

Naruto smiled and nodded, never really having had a latte before and simply took her word for it, "Hey, so how are you doing?"

Ino blinked at the sudden switch in conversation, and shrugged a little, "I'm alright. I mean, I'm still upset but… I have to keep going forward to make Asuma-sensei proud!"

Naruto smiled, "Well that's good to know. You did always seem to be rather strong."

Ino gave him a big genuine smile, "Think so? I didn't think of you as one to study one's character, Naruto. With how Sakura-obsessed you seemed to be when we were younger…"

He shrugged, "Maybe not initially, but I _do_ have an understanding of people."

Ino nodded, mulling that over. It was shortly after that Ran returned with a plate of pastries and their latte's, "So, who's the guy Ino-sama?"

Ino shifted slightly at Ran's absurd look of girly mischievousness, "This is Naruto. He's a part of the infamous Rookie 9, and the only one who's _still_ a Gennin." Naruto was about to make a comment when Ino raised a hand and silenced him, continuing, "Of course, he couldn't help it since he's been away the past couple of years."

Ran nodded and smiled pleasantly at Naruto and stuck her hand out in a hand shake, "Well, I'm Mouri Ran, owner of this little café shop!"

Naruto smiled and masked his nervousness and shook her hand, "And I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and someday I'm going to be Hokage." _Believe it!!! Bwahahahaha!_

Ran laughed lightly, "Well, if I can fulfill _my_ dream, I hope you can fulfill _yours_ Naruto-sama."

Naruto blinked and smiled, " Thanks… You're honestly probably the first person to honestly take my dream seriously."

Ran raised an eyebrow, "Why's that?"

Naruto smiled cheekily and winked, "That's an ultra-super class secret."

Ran laughed lightly, "I see. Well, I better get back to making some more pastries for the day. You two enjoy yourselves now!"

Once Ran was back in the kitchen, Ino looked to Naruto with a raised eyebrow, "Would this have something to do with those weird marks on your cheeks?"

Of course, as fate would have it, Ino asked this just as Naruto was testing out his latte, and thus, proceeded in the atypical comical choking. Once his lungs were cleared of hot _nice_ drink, he scratched the side of his head and tried thinking of a way out of this one, "Uhm… well, what do you mean?"

Ino rolled her eyes, trying to give him the benefit of intelligence, "I mean exactly what I said. Why do you have those marks on your cheeks? I know it's probably a little bit much of me to ask you but…"

Naruto waved a hand slightly, "No, no it's alright. I'm actually surprised no one's ever really asked me that by now. Especially Kiba, with that big yap of his. As for my marks, well, they've just always _been_ there. I'm not really sure _why_ that had to be the side effect of my… uhm… _blood _limit but… it's because of that I have these marks."

Naruto was totally sweating bullets now.

Ino watched him closely the whole time, knowing he was both lying and telling the honest truth at the same time. "Is it really that big of a secret, that you can't fully explain it?"

Naruto immediately became downcast and stared blankly at the table, "Ino… There's a reason why I was a bit surprised that Ran-sama was friendly with me."

Ino's eyes widened a bit, thinking back on what she could remember of Naruto.

The only thing she could remember was feelings of annoyance, hate, and him being alone.

Completely, absolutely alone.

"Naruto…"

He shook his head and smiled a little bitterly, "I'm a lot like Gaara, Ino… He once said that he was like a memory that people only desperately wished to forget. I'm… I'm the same as him. I'm simply something that everyone wants to forget, and thus, they've never really treated me well…"

Ino watched him as he played with the pastry he had almost started eating before her question and looked down at the table. "I'm sorry… I guess I shouldn't have pressed…"

Naruto smiled, "It's alright. I mean, you _were_ on my squad in that mission when we went to that weird village with the fish girl and-"

Ino jumped slightly, "Oh! That one with Anko-sensei! Uhm.. Yeah, I remember that a little." she blushed a little at her outburst.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, well… Do you remember sensing some weird creepy chakra? A lot like the kind that I used against Neji in the Chuunin exams?"

Ino thought for a moment and nodded, "Yes. I remember that rather… well, actually."

"It's because of that chakra."

Ino looked at Naruto silent and somewhat startled, feeling a sense of finality in their conversation.

They finished their early breakfast in a both awkward and comfortable silence and departed shortly there-after. It was then that Naruto's nagging sense of worry came back, and he realized that he was worried for Ino.

And he hadn't even the slightest idea why.

* * *

A/N: And there you have it. A nice second shot. I'm going to try and make the one shots fit together, if I do anything more with this. Please, review and tell me how you liked it! Also, Thanks for the reviews for the previous chapter! 30 on a possible-only-a-One-Shot is like.. Awesome. I'm also on a couple of C2's. Thanks! With my other name… I like, barely got 5 reviews per chapter so… **Please, don't stop supporting me through reviews now.** I need words to motivate me, even if it's "Great chapter/story!"** I appreciate you all!**

Advertisement: I'm going to throw this out- Check out Copeland (Album 'In Motion'). Great shtuff (if anything, check out lyrics). Also, if you've ever seen YuGiOh, you MUST see YuGiOh: The Abridged by **LittleKuriboh** on YouTube. Awesome, hilarious, and nothing like the usual parody's people (especially guys) put out. Oh, and Look out for the imposters!


	3. Training with Leaves

I'm re-writing this chapter and taking it a whole different way then originally intended. This chapter, looking back sucks along with chapter 4. Amazing, you're all getting 3 chapters without even knowing it! Also, I'm going to go with manga/anime from here-on-out, and not be so linear with it. It's been QUITE some time since I updated (-dies-) and I'd rather take this in a different direction. I apologize for non-continuity if it occurs (new readers/re-readers). I'll try my best to make flow.

_This story was last updated 11/12/06- __**Revamped/Re-written 8/12/08**_

**Anberlin, Cities. "The Promise" **

_When your day is through,  
and so is your temper,  
You know what to do,  
I'm gonna always be there._

_Sometimes if I shout,  
it's not what's intended.  
These words just come out,  
with no gripe to bear._

_**Originally by When In Rome**_

* * *

Ino stared at herself in the mirror, introspecting on her life and all that she had accomplished. Sasuke's leaving gave her a new form of strength and fire as a ninja. Watching Sakura be so torn up about a guy and down herself as a ninja in her accomplishments was in a way, very distressing. They weren't the best of friends they had been before, but that still didn't mean Ino didn't know of how strong the pink haired girl had become.

Yet, looking back, Ino found she really didn't like the way Sakura pulled Naruto around begging him for this or that. It wasn't until he had gone off to train that Sakura had gotten completely serious about being a ninja.

Did she seriously have to loose two of her teammates to realize how important she was in the whole scheme of things? Ino sighed as she tied her hair up for the day and promptly left the house, troubled by the fleeting past ghosts that clung to her.

Walking through the town slowly, she made her way to the outskirts where she could sense Naruto training (It was rather obvious, what with the copious amounts of chakra he was using. That and the new waterfall and Cliffside that had appeared). Along her way she picked up enough food for four ninja's and continued walking, humming softly to herself. As she made her way she greeted random villagers and pondered to herself, in a fleeting moment, if any of them had hurt Naruto on purpose while they were growing up.

She paused for a moment, startled at her thoughts. Why would she think that? She knew Naruto had been treated pretty badly, and while she didn't have a full understanding of just how far it had gone, it couldn't have been _that_ horrible, could it?

Could a place as welcoming as Konoha really be so cruel to one of its own?

She slumped in a small internal form of defeat at the edge of the training grounds. How much did she know about Naruto? How many times had he surprised her in just one conversation? Sure, he'd been horribly obnoxious as a twelve year old, but now he was more mature. Not completely an adult, but not a child. Graceful, and yet still awkward in his step.

But there had always been something _off_, hadn't there? Something that was so incredibly _wrong_ and _unsafe_ about him, even though he was probably where one could feel safest-

Ino jolted and shook herself, '_No, no calm down, just stop this train of thinking and enjoy the nice day. Besides, it should be interesting to observe Naruto's 'secret' training.' _With that in mind, she jumped into a tree and settled herself to observe.

In the end, Ino wasn't sure if it was a wasted effort, or if what insanely ingenious.

One thousand Naruto's held leaves in their hands. At first, Ino was incredibly confused until she realized he was slicing through the pieces of greenery with his chakra. '_Why in the world is he training through that method? What good do a bunch of Bunshin do him?'_

Soon, she got her answer. Suddenly, one of out of the hundreds made a shout and excitement happened for a moment before all of them disappeared at once, leaving only one Naruto behind. After a few words with Kakashi and Yamato, Naruto passed out from what seemed to be exhaustion.

Ino blinked and got out from the tree she had perched in and went down to speak with Naruto's two sensei.

"Well if isn't Ino, what a surprise." She looked to the masked Jounin who had spoken to her nonchalantly. He'd probably spotted her long ago.

"I was interested in this super special training for Naruto that I've been hearing about."

Kakashi nodded to himself as Yamato got up and dusted himself, "It's nothing particularly interesting to look at, despite the vast amount of effort going into it…"

"What are you training him in exactly? I mean, I can tell it's something to do with chakra but I'm a little lost…"

Kakashi put away his Icha Icha with much personal regret and looked at her blankly, "We're training him how to use his elemental chakra."

Ino quirked an eyebrow, "Really? Which one?"

"Wind. He's a wind user."

Ino paused for a moment, her eyes widening a little. _'He has the same element as Asuma-sensei…'_ "That's… Isn't that difficult?"

Kakashi nodded, "Of course. Especially since we're trying to combine it with en even more difficult attack. I won't give you anymore details then that, but it is rather difficult- impossible even."

Yamato nodded, "Of course, since we're talking about Naruto…"

Kakashi smiled, "It's quite possible."

Ino was rather surprised by their answer and wondered what exactly she was missing from the big picture here… "So why all the Bunshin?"

"Naruto has always used Kage Bunshin, which is a forbidden technique used for information gathering. Naruto learned it, and with each bunshin he gains its knowledge and skill. Thus, using say, a thousand bunshin, he gains each clones knowledge and experience."

Ino pondered this for a moment before nodding slowly, "I understand."

Kakashi smirked, "Good. Now if you'd like to hand over some of those rice balls, I'd be quite happy to take a few off your hands…"

Ino rolled her eyes and gave him and Yamato a box, "Greedy old perv."

* * *

Chapter 3 has been re-done! Not a whole lot of Naru/Ino interaction, but I'm playing catch-up and re-think for this story. Now on to re-making chapter 4!! WOOO!! -dies-

* * *

Change 8/23/08- I'm going to put the original chapter 3 here- Though I would like to cut out a Naruto/Ino childhood meeting out of it since I didn't like it in retrospect. I hope that it still feels like the moment I wanted from this chapter was "accomplished" but I really can't tell. The reason I'm putting the original back up is that, while reviewing reviews, I felt readers did enjoy the chapter, and I don't know if this chapter re-make lowered the quality in comparison to the original. Either way it's pretty much the same "moment," Just a different kind of way going about it.

So in short: This chapter has 2 possibilities. My original below, and the new version above.

-In copying it over, I lost some italics/etc. Also, Ino's Mother's name is now Yuuna... just, I had originally decided on Adelaide.

And then people flipped out because it wasn't Japanese. -sigh-

* * *

Ino sighed longingly as she fully stretched out while laying on her bed. It had been a few days since Asuma's passing, and even though Team 10 had very desperately wanted to go out after Akatsuki, the fact that they still had to have a Jounin sensei accompany them had kept them back from leaving at their desired timeframe.

So here she was, Yamanaka Ino, stuck training, and waiting around until a Jounin sensei was available.

Great.

The feeling that it would take a while burned at her, frustrating her and her teammates, even though the other two were far better at concealing such feelings than she was.

With the thought of training some more in mind, Ino made herself get up and head out to the training grounds.

Once she reached her destination, Ino began warming up before working on her taijutsu first. Taijutsu, while not her best skill, was growing due to the small arsenal Tsunade was supplying her with. She and Sakura were similar in the area of strength to chakra, though, Ino was still growing in her training, and was behind the pink-haired girl in this area due to the fact that she didn't have some of Sakura's natural talent, nor did she delve into it (the attack aspect of medi-jutsu) as deeply as Sakura.

It was during her Taijutsu practice that she remembered that Naruto was training somewhere with Kakashi-sensei, and some other sensei on the outskirts of Konoha's training grounds.

With this thought in mind, Ino decided that she'd had enough of her training and headed back to her home to freshen up. Once done, Ino picked up Naruto's jacket, put it on, and headed out again to find which training ground Naruto was actually training in.

It took Ino until mid-afternoon to locate the Naruto trio, and Ino immediately decided to take a break and watch what was going on. To be honest, seeing a massive amount of Naruto clones try and cut a leaf with wind chakra (which chilled Ino a bit with the fact he was a wind type like Asuma-sensei) was both an amusing and awing experience.

While watching, Ino continuously noticed how Yamato-taichou-perhaps was his name?- was seated, and how repeatedly Naruto would have to dispel clones so that whatever was going on with him and his chakra would stop.

Well, the whole thing in general was interesting and confusing for her as an 'outsider.'

It was after a while that Ino decided to get comfortable to watch Naruto train, since while she didn't feel like doing much of anything, and even though she knew she should probably be doing something else, she wanted to watch Naruto train. He had only been back for a short while, and she did really want to see how he could grow as a ninja. It was really sort of captivating how Naruto could completely come out from a total lose-lose situation and win it.

Observation would give her the chance to see Naruto without him having to keep all of his pretences up.

His guard was down around these people in regards to his true self, and she wanted-needed to know something more, if not for anything than to be able to satiate her curiosity.

_The sky was overcast with rain pouring as she sat, curled in on herself with a few scrapes on her right arm and hands as she waited for her father to come for her. Her mother had been talking to some friends in the market when she had stated she wanted to go to the park, and her mother relented, saying her father would fetch her later._

It had been fun for the first couple of hours, playing with the other kids…

That was, until it rained.

Ino sighed as she shivered from the wind that would sometimes pick up, making the play-set she was sitting under for shelter rather useless. She knew it was getting late, especially with how hungry she was getting, but she just couldn't remember how to get home from here. Tears built up as tiredness, the chill, and frustration started to get to her. Ino began wishing she hadn't left her mother's side, even if it had been really boring, just standing there…

She had started to fall asleep when she heard the scuffling that happens when one walks on the pebbles that covered the expanse of the play and swing-set area of the park, which caused her to wake up and look towards the source of the sound.

It was a boy with an old, somewhat worn grayish vest, underneath it was a medium yellow shirt with an orange spiral, and brown shorts. He held a broken-down umbrella, that though an adult couldn't really use it anymore, a child their age could fit under what was still usable of it easily, perhaps even two.

Still, even though his clothes weren't in the best-of-shape, it was his eyes that made Ino somewhat frightened of him. While the scars that marred his cheeks didn't really bother her, his eyes always somewhat frightened her.

He was a kid her age, yet his azure eyes were so hollow and angry and it just scared her in a way that she wished it hadn't.

It was with those blank, hollow eyes that he stared at her with. He seemed a little bored perhaps, the rain and wind not really bothering him despite his small body. She noticed he was trying to think of something to say, when he finally just walked over to her and grabbed her ice-cold hand and pulled her up and under the cover of his umbrella. She stared at the boy rather surprised as he looked to the ground, deliberating something until he handed her the stem of the umbrella. Ino looked at it a moment before taking it, and found herself a little surprised when he took his beat-up-yet-dry vest off and put it around her shoulders before taking the umbrella back.

She blinked, "What are you…?"

The blond shrugged slightly and took her hand in his again, "Are you lost?"

Ino paused, and then slowly nodded, ashamedly, "Mmhm."

The boy nodded, and tugged her hand lightly, keeping her close as he took her with him in a direction she didn't recognize.

While confused, Ino didn't press on where the boy was taking her. The main thing that really mattered was getting warm again, she could feel a small scratching at her throat, signaling that she was probably getting sick because of being out in the cold summer rain for so long…

She looked at the boy a moment, realizing she knew of him, yet didn't know his name, "Hey."

The boy looked at her slightly annoyed, "What?"

His reaction annoyed her, but she let it slide, "What's your name?"

The boy blinked, somewhat surprised, "Uh… Naruto… Uzumaki Naruto…"

Ino pondered a moment, not recognizing the clan name, but shrugged it off and nodded, "I'm Yamanaka Ino."

The boy seemed to smile just slightly, "I know who you are. I know who all the kids are…"

Ino looked at Naruto a little strangely, "You know everyone?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, but… no one really likes me…"

He turned his head away, still holding her hand, signaling to her that he really didn't want to talk anymore.

Ino nodded slightly, somewhat sad by this piece of knowledge.

After what seemed like forever, Ino started noticing things she could recognize, and before she could really mull it over, she and Naruto were standing in front of her home, the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

He looked at her, "This is where you live, right?"

Ino nodded, "Yup. How'd you know?"

Naruto smiled somewhat mischievously, which was something she hadn't remembered ever having seen from him, "Your last name's Yamanaka, silly. This is the only flower shop with a girl like you that holds that name."

Ino blushed, "O-oh."

Naruto seemed about to say something else when the door flung open, "Ino!"

The two children started (Naruto seemed to not only jump, but also release her hand and flinch back) when the distraught mother opened the door. Ino quickly found herself whisked up into the arms of her mother into the dry doorway of the shop, "Oh Ino, I was so worried! I couldn't figure out where you'd gone, once I found out your father had gone off on a mission with his old team and just, oh, I'm so glad you're back!!"

Ino struggled a little with the affection, though she also welcomed it. Then, just as suddenly as she was being cuddled, her mother picked up Naruto swiftly, surprising the boy and making him squawk.

The boy struggled a bit, before calming down, realizing the elder Yamanaka wasn't going to hurt him or chuck him out like any other adult would have other than the Old Man- who actually cared about his well-being.

Naruto blinked and looked up and Ino's mother confused, "Huh?"

Yuuna smiled just slightly, a little compassion for the boy appearing on her demeanor, "I'm going to reward you for bringing my little Ino-chan home."

Naruto opened his eyes, blinking a little as a ghost of a smile appeared on his face. He'd managed to pass out after his last bought of clone dispelling, and it seemed he'd been left alone after that, his training for the day obviously finished.

He didn't know why he had dreamt of one of his few good childhood memories, considering he honestly had completely forgotten about that incident with Ino, but it left him with a nice feeling. It had been a really strange day for him when Ino's mother had taken care of him until the storm was over.

Naruto sighed as he pushed himself up into a sitting position before forcing himself up onto his feet. He then went under the waterfall Yamato-sensei had created and took a quick bath (Hey, it was cold water!) before he stretched languidly before looking around himself, suddenly sensing something on the outskirts of the training grounds. Being interested, he tracked the faint chakra signature to its source.

A manic grin appeared on Naruto's face as he found a sleeping Ino, sensing some irony in the situation. Or was it coincidence. Bah- whatever it was, Naruto was a little amused, though put-off by it. That, and she was wearing his jacket, again!

He rolled his eyes before deciding to watch Ino sleep for a few moments. During that time Naruto decided there was only one thing he could do- bring her home where she wouldn't get a horrible crick in her neck.

Carefully, Naruto picked Ino up bridal style and made the somewhat long trek back to the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

* * *

**(Original Author Notes)**

Well guys, there's a chapter for ya. I hope it was enjoyable after a whacked Haitus. Hopefully I'll be able to think of something else soon, though one thing I will say is that it's really easy for me to write one-shots that have a main theme and can flow together without having to have a continuative story and plot. To be honest, I don't have specific plans for this story. I never had one from the start, but like my Sun and the Moon fic, if I can actually manage to think of some sort of plot for this, I will. Though, it'll probably have to time jump, and randomly flashback to possibilities from the Hurricane Chronicles.

For some reason in my art, I've gotten into Gender Bending Danny from Danny Phantom. Someone, please review to get me out of that weird rut.

Please.


	4. On the Bridge in Moonlight

Chapter 4 Remake- I didn't like the original chapter 4. It never sat well with me, and so finally, on 8/13/08, I'm fixing it and re-writing the whole thing with something different! L O L!! -dies- It's another shortie, but that's ok. I'm making up for lost time and whatnot, and hopefully, even with shorter chapters, I'll want to update this more. I hope this chapter and the last flow with the first 2 alright. Now onwards!

* * *

_Like wind behind the grass in sway, asleep at certain times of day. _

_Don't turn away looming moon, you'll have your revenge very soon. _

_Don't turn away from what you love, soon you'll be finding it's much too tough. _

_I have thought of sharing all these different feelings from under covers. _

_May we all turn into the leaves that crack and break apart. _

_And I'm anxious to relieve my mind from desperate thoughts. _

_I hope you remember me always_

_**Secret & Whisper- Looming Moon**_

* * *

Naruto trudged behind all of the others during their return to Konoha. He sighed heavily to himself, '_Even after all of that training, combining my wind with the Rasengan is still way too dangerous…_' He clutched his horribly mutilated right arm. Sure, it had been healed some, but it would take his own healing time to fix everything without horribly weakening the arm.

Wind was powerful and destructive, yet still something that could be soft and much like a caress.

Naruto shook his head, '_It's no use getting down on myself, I've just gotta train harder and get better with it so I don't hurt myself so bad next time.'_

Ino, who was celebrating with her team on their successful mission of avenging Asuma's death, turned just slightly back to look at the others. Most of the rest of the squads were pleased, but Naruto was hanging back just a little more then he should have. She turned a bit more, "Hey Naruto, you alright?"

Everyone of course turned to look at the whiskered boy, causing a moment of pause and panic, "Wha? Oh! I'm totally awesome, why wouldn't I be?" He was giving that obnoxious smile while saying this though, and that only bothered Ino more. Huffing she turned back forward and shrugged, "If you say so."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at his fellow blond while Sakura shrugged to him and turned around to face forward.

Ino's personal party had been dampened slightly by her sudden annoyance at his brush off for her concern. It wasn't that he had literally done anything wrong, but… '_That smile has always pissed me off._' He'd been doing such a good job of surprising her lately, and making her proud of his accomplishments. She had, perhaps even started to desire to be his friend and be known as such. Yet she couldn't help her annoyance with that smile, something was just seriously _wrong_ with it.

It was more than just an annoying grin, and while it did seem to hold some sort of mischief to it, there was still something horribly _lacking_.

Ino sighed heavily, '_Nevermind. Just enjoy the victory we've had, it was a great accomplishment to take out two Akatsuki members._' Nodding to herself, she once again joined in celebration.

Still, there was that small nagging at the back of her head that she was seriously missing out on something.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Naruto turned over in his attempt to sleep. He was annoyed with himself, having been horribly worried for Ino for so long for nothing. Oh sure, he hadn't known she and her fellow members of Team 10 had planned to avenge their sensei and decided to go after the Akatsuki themselves, but still. It had been annoying, and it seemed like it was all for nothing now.

No, he couldn't really say his worry was for nothing. It was just…

He threw his pillow in frustration and sat up, huffing heavily, "I need some air."

Stretching and making a quick change into warmer clothing, he made his way outside to the place near the bridge Team 7 had always met up at, and where Ino had run off to that day Asuma died.

His way was silent and thought filled with different things. He observed again and again the things that were the same and the things that were different since the time before his training. When he reached his destination he realized a shadow- no, person was already standing on the bridge. He paused for a moment confused as to why anyone else would be here this late until he realized who it was. "Ino?"

The shadow started and turned to him, helping to define feature and color again, "Wha?"

Naruto blinked, "So it is you." He walked over and noted she was wearing his jacket to fend off the night chill. He looked a little incredulous for a moment, "What are you doing out here so late?" He stood beside her and shifted into a similar position as her, relaxed against the side of the bridge.

She paused, "I was just out here thinking. Sakura would hang out here a lot after you left so… I came to find this to be a pretty nice place to go to when I needed to think."

Naruto nodded as he put weight on the rail and looked into the water. "Oh… Was Sakura sad a lot?"

Ino thought a moment, looking at Naruto's reflection in the water and noticing how dark those marks on his cheeks looked once again like at the coffee shop, "It's… kind of hard to say. Sometimes she was sad about her past failures, sometimes she was sad that she had failed Tsunade that day during her training… and sometimes she was just _sad_. Probably grieving for some reason or another. Not to say she was always sad while she was here, because sometimes she'd celebrate. Still, it was a place she frequented a lot."

Naruto nodded just slightly, his eyes lidded a bit as his hair shifted in a very small breeze. Ino once again took note of how different he looked without his hitai-ate.

"Hey Naruto?"

"What?"

She stood straight and stretched a moment, enjoying the small drawing of his attention before she turned and started walking, "You should wear your hair like that more often."

Naruto paused confused, "Wha?"

Ino smirked and turned slightly, "Night Naruto."

The blond boy just stood confused a moment, "Uh… Night Ino."

She nodded and disappeared from his sight quickly, satisfied she'd been able to so horribly confound him with such a simple compliment and suggestion.

Meanwhile, Naruto sighed heavily as he partially collapsed on the thick arm of the bridge, "Women, confusing creatures a- wait a second. Dammit! She _still_ has my _jacket_!!"


	5. Dinner and the Small Blue Box

First things first**: Chapters 3 and 4 have been completely changed**… so you need to go back and read those. All-together, I'm hoping all 4 chapters flow well enough without being too jarring.

Takato: Alright. So I'm finally writing a new, new chapter for you all. It's been far too long, and I apologize. My consciousness finally got the best of me and told me to fix my mistakes (original ch 3 and 4) and to continue on with this story. It can go places, even though I'm not sure where to go. -shrugs-

Disclaimer: I think you all know I don't own Naruto, so lets move on.

Alright. After personal debate, I'm going to name Ino's mom Yuuna. Now wait- I did put time into this and didn't just go 'LOL Final Fantasy 10 hurrr. XD' The site I'm using for names gives the meaning of Yuuna as 'Sun Plant'. Now, while I did look through the I's for a Japanese name, there really weren't any that I was taken to and thus went with 'Y' for Yamanaka (and I went for Japanese since the last time I tried to name Ino's mom Adelaide, people flipped out and went 'OMG ENGLISH NO!' so there. I tried- that's also from the original chapter 4).

* * *

_We've got all night just to make it all right  
Would you take a walk with me?  
I'll give you all I've got just spare me your time  
And I promise you won't want to leave  
Are you, are you falling for me?  
This time, we'll find what we both need _

_**Mae, Singularity- Just Let Go**_

* * *

Mrs. Yamanaka observed her daughter gardening outback with a small amount of worry. Now, it wasn't that Ino was acting strange or trying to hurt herself in depression. No, it was that _jacket_. Yuuna was well aware of her daughter's sense of fashion, and wearing Naruto's jacket around the house (and sometimes, even when she decided to go out at night) like some sort of security blanket was really starting to bother her. She supposed if it was Ino's way of getting comfort, it was alright. But still, that orange was somewhat obnoxious, and she truly wondered how Ino could _stand_ it. Surely Ino could have clung to something less painful on the eyes then the jacket, right?

Sighing softly she walked towards Ino in an almost ninja-like silence, "Ino, dear…"

Ino paused and looked up to her mother, "Yes?"

Yuuna thought about her next move for a moment, shifting, "Don't you think it's about time you returned that jacket to Naruto-kun? I'm sure the boy misses his jacket terribly…" adding thoughtfully in her mind, '_Even if he _does_ have more than one.'_

Ino blinked and looked at the atrocity she allowed herself to indulge in, "It's not _that_ bad… and he doesn't mind. " with a pause, she half pondered, '_At least, I don't think he does…_'

Yuuna forced a small smile on her face, "Ah, well, please do return it to him soon? It's not good to keep people's things for too long, you know?"

Ino nodded, "Alright, alright. I'll return it to him soon, I promise."

Yuuna's smile became more prominent and joyful, "Good. How about you invite him over for dinner sometime or something? Perhaps bring him a lunch someday to maybe get him off of all that ramen he eats, neh?"

Ino blinked and looked up to her mother with a bewildered look on her face, "What am I, his caretaker?"

Ino's mother sighed and rolled her eyes, "Of course not, but honestly- that boy really should be treated better, and I'm sure no girls… Not even _Sakura_ has ever treated that boy to a homemade meal. You could beat her at being especially courteous, you know?"

The blond teen just stared at her mom somewhat put out. This conversation was just going in a really strange direction, "Uhm… sure mom. I'll do that right now, alright?"

Yuuna smiled with a bit of mischief, "Please do. And _don't_ forget to put that jacket in the laundry, would you dear? It's covered in dirt and I'd _hate_ for you to return it _dirty_. It's just not good manners, you know?"

Ino rolled her eyes and wiped the dirt off of her knee's, "Whatever. I'll take some money on my way out."

"That's just fine, now get going."

Ino waved as she entered the house, "Yeah, yeah…"

Yuuna smirked almost foxily as she entered the house, glad her suggestions worked.

Meanwhile, Ino quickly freshened up and changed into more civilian-like clothing. If she was going to cook, she did _not_ want to wear her ninja clothes. She might be pretty good when it came to what she could cook, but she made a huge mess of it when she did.

Dressing in a simple purple top similar to her usual ninja-gear one and a pair of almost-black pants, she started on her way out before running into her father. "Oh! Hello father."

Inoichi smiled, "What are you up to?"

Ino shrugged, "I'm going out to get some groceries."

Her father nodded a moment before thinking of something, "Can you do me a favor?"

Ino blinked and nodded after a moment's thought, "Sure."

"Can you go to the storeroom and get that old red scroll box I keep near the back? There's a few jutsu in there that I want to look over."

Ino nodded, "Alright." With that, she made her way across the Yamanaka property and went into the storehouse. Looking around she took note of small nick-knacks and old tools from the past. Wandering around for a while, she took a small amount of time to appreciate a piece of antique jewelry, a random intricately engraved throwing star, and an older leather kunai holster until she came upon the item in question. The red scroll box. Ino nodded to herself as she made sure it was the correct one and went to pick it up before she realized there was a small blue box on top of it.

Ino paused, picking up the strange new item and took note that there was dust under where it had laid. "Did this fall recently?" She looked up and noticed some of the other boxes on the upper rafters had shifted, and others still seemed to be about ready to fall. The blond huffed to herself, "Dad needs to check this place more often. Who knows what else could have fallen and possibly broken."

Looking around to make sure there weren't glass or pottery shards littering the floor, she redirected her gaze to the little blue box. For a moment, she wondered if she should leave it alone, but in the end curiosity won out and she slid it into her empty money pouch to look at later. She then picked up the item she came for and left without hardly moving any of the dust within the storeroom.

Entering the shop again, she found her father, "Got it."

Inoichi smiled, "Thank you."

Ino paused, "What's so important about the jutsu in there anyway?"

Her father shrugged, "I was just thinking of teaching you a few more techniques is all."

Ino smiled with excitement, "Really?!"

Inoichi nodded, "There's even a genjutstu here. But I needed to double check and make sure that they aren't too difficult."

Ino jumped in excitement, "I'm totally prepared for anything, so don't hold back just because I'm your daughter, got it?!"

Mr. Yamanaka laughed, "Alright alright, now get going. You know where the money is."

Ino smirked, "Sure do." and with a laugh and a twirl she left the shop with enough money to buy groceries for two.

* * *

Naruto was not having a good day. No, the fact that his sink had over flowed, his front door had broken off the hinges, and that something had gone terribly sour in the fridge… All of those things were nothing compared to the ruckus the little old hag in front of him was making.

"Time and time again I've told you to stay the hell _away_ from my store you vile creature! I don't want you to be within even 15 feet of it! I swear, I'll have a restraining order placed on you if you can't bother yourself to be courteous to us normal _humans_ who far more superior-'

Naruto sighed and rolled his eyes, '_Does this woman not need to breathe!? Dammit! I just wanted to get some new hinges!_'

"-nd another thing! I'll have you know the last time you passed by here I ended up falling-"

Naruto groaned, his shoulders slumping as the onlookers who had decided to watch the skeptical started wondering whether they should continue their hatred for Naruto, or hate the old lady who would not. shut. up.

It was during this "exchange" that Ino happened upon Naruto and the crowd that had formed. She glanced around at the villagers and noticed people had started taking bets on how much longer the 'demon child' could stand the old woman patronizing him, or they took bets on how much longer the old woman could go without taking a single breath.

Ino sighed heavily and pushed her way through the crowd, trying to get a better idea of just _what_ Naruto had done to piss her off. "Naruto-kun!"

Naruto turned to Ino confused for a moment blinking, "Oh, Ino-chan-"

The old woman clubbed Naruto over the head with her cane for turning away from her, "how dare you disrespect me! I'll have you know-!"

Naruto growled as his patience reaching the end of its tether, "Old Lady…"

"How dare you threaten me! HELP! HELP!! THE DEMON CHILD-!"

Ino, by this point, was done. She walked over, grabbed Naruto, and stormed away before Naruto or anyone else could do anything.

"How DARE you, you vile vixen! Don't you ever come to my store you fox slut!"

Silence. Wind stirred in the streets as Ino turned slowly to the old woman, a look of rage overcoming her before Naruto could even react to what the old woman said, "Mrs. Tachikawa, I _suggest_ you watch your words. I don't exactly know what your problem is with _Naruto_ here, but if you _dare_ to think you can get away with calling me some slut- _Me_, a ninja of _Konoha_, I suggest you pack your bags. Because if Tsunade doesn't get to you first, my _father_ will. And I'm sure you _know_ all about his and his team's exploits during the war."

The old woman froze up a bit, suddenly realizing she had just called Ino Yamanaka, Tsunade _the Godaime_'s second apprentice, a fox slut. Yet, not only that, but _Inoichi Yamanaka _of the original _InoShikaChou_ team's _daughter_ a vile vixen. She immediately started bowing profusely to the two, "I apologize, you're welcome anytime! Please forgive me!"

Ino sniffed and turned while pulling Naruto with her, "Whatever." _People like you make me positively __**sick**_.

* * *

Naruto watched silently as Ino cooked in his kitchen. Sure, he had fought and fussed over those horrible vegetables she said she would force upon him, but otherwise he felt rather elated at the prospect of a home-cooked meal. Normally he really didn't care, but after the fiasco he'd endured today… Well, he'd eat a few veggie's in thanks for helping him buy his new door hinges and the necessary chemicals and tools to fix his sink with far more ease then usual.

At first, he had tried to help her with cooking but soon found how useless he was and simply conceded to defeat and sat down out of her way.

"So, what is it you're making again?"

"Sukiyaki."

"Oh."

A moment of pause before Naruto sighed. Why was this so awkward?

"Hey Naruto?"

"Hm?"

"What was going on today with you and Mrs. Tachikawa?"

He sighed heavily, "Nothing. I accidentally _breathed_ in her direction. I forgot that I usually never take that route because of that psycho bitch of a grandma…"

Ino pondered for a moment, "But… that doesn't make sense. She's usually a very nice lady… Even if she _did_ call me a _slut_."

Naruto thought about how to answer that, "You know how most of the village hates me, right?"

Ino nodded, "Yeah, but that's the thing. What exactly did you do? And _why_ do they keep calling you a demon child, and associating you with foxes? I mean, the whisker marks on your face do make you seem a bit fox-like, but not _that_ much. It almost makes you think they believe you're the _Kyuubi_, which is totally stupid considering the 4th Hokage destroyed it."

Naruto felt a chill run down his spine at how on the mark she was, "Uh, yeah. You'd think." He laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his head.

Ino quirked an eyebrow at his behavior, "What the heck's your problem?"

Naruto waved her off a bit, "Nothing, nothing. I just thought of how, uh, interesting your theory was."

The blond girl blinked and shrugged, "Whatever Naruto."

He sighed as he stared at the few items Ino had left to the side and wasn't cooking to try and calm his nerves, "Hey Ino?"

She pulled out serving dishes for their meal, "Hm?"

Naruto tilted his head slightly, "What's with that box?"

Ino blinked, "Oh that? I found it in the storeroom today."

Naruto nodded and got up to take a closer look at it, "You check it out yet?"

She placed the plates, cups, bowls, and spoons on the table before replying, "Nope. I was going to look after dinner though."

"I see." Naruto nodded to himself thoughtfully. There was something that was _bothering_ him about the box, but before he could think of what it was Ino pulled him to sit down at the table again.

"Time to eat."

"Oy! No need to be so rough about it…"

Ino smirked, "Don't be such a _wuss_ Naruto."

He rolled his eyes and checked his food over before stuffing the horrid, wretched vegetables in his mouth. He grimaced and forced himself to swallow the vile things that should never have had to have been considered so healthy and necessary in one's diet. Ino rolled her eyes at his behavior and smirked a little to herself. '_He should be thankful, considering I took the time to make sure he had far less vegetables than what was in there originally. Jerk._'

Meanwhile, Naruto forged on in his war and won with surprising ease. He paused, "Did you take out some of the vegetables?"

"Yup. I might not know you _that_ well, but I _do_ remember your absolute loathing of vegetables…"

"Oh…" Naruto fidgeted in his seat, thinking of what it was that you should say before it came to him, "Uh… thanks."

Ino paused and looked to him before she smiled nicely, "You're welcome."

Naruto's eyes widened for a moment, never having seen Ino (or most of anyone) give him such a pleasant face, "Uhm… They.. Uh.. They tasted pretty good." _For veggie's._

Ino's smiled broadened, "Hm… maybe there's hope for you yet, Naruto."

He scrunched his face, "Uhm, no. I'd really rather not…"

She laughed suddenly, "I'm just joking."

"Oh."

They continued eating.

* * *

Takato: Sorry, sorry if Naruto and Ino seemed a little OOC. DX I hope it wasn't too bad… If it was I profusely apologize… But I wanted to get a new chapter out- Like, a New, New chapter for you all.

I've come to find that I wish the last filler arc (SORA!!) hadn't occurred while Asuma was alive. It's given way for so many possibilities and plunnies, yet… at the same time it cramps them. I'm not sure what I'll do to implement anything from that filler arc, but I must say- In comparison to pretty much all of Shippuden to that point, the Sora Arc was full of win and awesome.

If you have any prompts or ideas for this story, please let me know in a review. It would be helpful. I've stated that I would like to deviate away from the manga, especially with how much time has passed since I started this (-dies-). I apologize for taking so long, but writing for me can come and go, and it doesn't help that the e-mail for this account is one I never go to.

So, on that end, I hope you all enjoyed the new chapters 3 and 4, and enjoyed this last chapter.

Please let me know what improvements I need to make to make the story better, and please forgive me if I was a little rusty. I'm hoping to get to Ino and Naruto's core personalities, and I think I sort of failed this chapter. -sigh-


	6. The House, The Swirl, and The Mystery

So, since my last update- **Original Chapter 3 is posted within Chapter 3, after the NEW chapter 3.** Yes. Let it all sink in a moment. Understand? No? Well, I was browsing my old reviews and I decided that, despite me hating the "child memory" thing from the original chapter 3, it pretty much had the same guidelines as the "new" chapter 3, and might have actually been better in satisfaction. Thus, you have 2 chapter 3's in one, as two alternate routes for the same path.

Moving on. The **original chapter 4 **(some of you might remember with this prompt: KUNAI!) will be implemented in a **whole new manner**- as in, I yanked it, and thought of a way to re-implement it without it sucking so bad. _Yeah. _I **looked back at those reviews and felt really bad**, considering the new chapter 4 isn't as steller. So- the reason why I want to reinvent the ideas of Original chapter 4 is because of the reviews of these people:

**SoulCry**

**Killer Intent **(I didn't drink on my 21st Birthday by the way. I think I told you though.)

**CrabbyOldHobbit**

(I failed you 3 so horribly with the 'updates' and chapter 5 -sob-)

Did I mention **I'm sick**? Yeah. I'm sick right now, but today was the day my plunnies decided to nip me and go, "HEY! Listen!" so… love me a little? **(REVIEW!?) **So yeah. Just know every 3-6 minutes I have to **stop** and blow my nose a good 2-3 times because _seasonal allergies/cold thing _decided to come up behind me and give me a **nice, big, hug**.

Now onto the chapter! (It's an update! HOLY CRAP!)

Disclaimer: Naruto's not mine. (**I miss Five Iron Frenzy**. DX) Oh- I also don't have a Beta and I don't proofread. I'm sorry in advance- I'll be embarrassed over it at some point sooner or later when I randomly decide to read this over. **If it's real bad, lemme know in a review**.

* * *

_We all, we all wear dignity  
It covers the strong, the weak  
We all, we all wear dignity  
Even the last, the lost, the least_

_Step into a spacious place  
Where pride and right will give way  
To the least of these  
To know the face  
Of who a man can be_

_Relient k- __**The Last, The Lost, The Least, **__The Bird and The Bee Sides_

* * *

"_You summoned me, Tsunade-sama?"_

_The Godaime clasped her hands in front of her face with a serious look, "I have an important request."_

_Ino's curiosity perked, "A request?"_

She was standing in a yard with the fifth Hokage, and she was rather… confused. She looked at her sensei incredulously, "You're not…trying to shirk responsibilities by using me as an excuse, are you?"

Tsunade frowned, "No, even if I _would_ enjoy a break with some sake. No, you see, I need you to take care of things here for me."

The younger ninja tilted her head, "What do you mean? What's here to take care of?"

The Godaime sighed, "There is a house on this property that needs taking care of."

Ino paused and looked around, "What house?"

Tsunade smirked, "The one _right here_." With that, she did a few handsigns and suddenly a piece of the area's barrier opened up with enough space for only the two of them to enter. Once inside, the barrier closed behind them and Ino looked around in awe, "Tsunade-sama..."

A large lot of about an acre (perhaps more, Ino wasn't sure) held a house surrounded with plants. She headed towards the house in excitement and Tsunade followed slowly behind her. The young ninja was quick to find the rare and exotic plants from other countries that she had dreamed of being able to one day see, let alone _touch and care_ for. It was a complete thrill, exhilarating her quickly into the realization that all of these things were _right here_ in _her_ village. "Tsunade-sama... What... why are all of these things here?"

Tsunade smiled sadly, "It was something the Yondaime had planned together with the one's that were the _most_ precious to him. This house and everything surrounding it... it's a show of his dreams and hopes from before the Kyuubi attack."

Ino nodded, sadly. Yet, she couldn't help but still be bewildered as to why she was the one being given this task. Surely there were others more suited with this sort of responsibility? "Why is this placed sealed off? I don't undertstand..."

Tsunade looked towards the sky, "By now, I'm sure this property would have been raided of all it's good and destroyed to keep it from the true owner's hands. It almost _did_ actually happen if the records are anything to go by. That's why the Third sealed the area away. At first, it was a symbol for the people, but it quickly turned into a place where one's hate, anger, and sadness was be let out upon and… well-. After the area was closed off, people seemed to forget about it and focused their sights on a different target."

"But why would they do that to the Fourth's belongings? Wasn't he a hero?"

"Of course. But there's an entirely different matter involved, and that in itself is its own separate secret I can't tell you about." _For his protection. If he decides to tell you himself… that's different. But even _he_ doesn't know about _this_._

"Why not Sakura? Or… why me?"

Tsunade thought a moment, "Well, other then the plants, I think you might find some of the things left behind very interesting. There are some rooms, and even a whole floor you won't be allowed access to, but… I figure you could train here, and maybe learn some things on your own about life."

Ino thought it over, letting the whole puzzle that had placed in her lap settle. Tsunade's reasoning still made no sense.

"So, will you take care of the property? When you're away on a mission Shizune can take care of things, I just wouldn't trust her with it for more then a week."

Ino thought a moment, "…I accept. Though, you _will_ be giving me guidelines on how to go about doing this, correct?"

Tsunade smirked, "Of course."

Ino felt a headache coming on.

* * *

Two weeks later found Ino in the Village Archives for each Clan. The first week cleaning and tidying the Fourth's old house brought up an unusual question that was rather peculiar. A swirl pattern, similar to that on Naruto's jacket was _everywhere_. At first, she'd thought nothing of it until she'd decided to bring the jacket with her because of the growing fall chill, and realized the connection.

At first, it almost _annoyed_ her until she thought that maybe not even Naruto _himself_ new why he was so attached to the pattern, or if it was even of any significance to his heritage.

Also, why was it that Naruto's teacher would feel it was important enough to keep on Naruto's person as well, even with the fashion upgrade?

Ino sighed as she continued shuffling through refugee papers. '_I knew it wouldn't be easy.. But _this_… _this_ is just ridiculous._' Naruto's jacket, paintings and metal works on walls, and the clan name 'Uzumaki' is all she had to go by. Heck, for all she knew _Uzumaki_ could have been made up to simply give him a last name, so she could even be on a pointless wild goose chace.

She lent back in her seat and looked towards the ceiling thinking a moment and going back to that strange 3-prong kunai she had found in her parent's storeroom.

_The two blonde teenagers looked at the opened blue box with surprise, taking in the strange weapon held within its casing, "Three prongs?"_

_Naruto tilted his head to the side, "How in the world would that even work when thrown?"_

_Ino smirked a little. She remembered how bad Naruto was at throwing kunai in his younger days, "You know… as great as I am at throwin' 'em, I'm not even too sure. I suppose Tenten could throw it well enough…"_

_Naruto nodded a moment, "I guess." He paused, "Hey Ino?"_

"_Hm?"_

"_You mind if I take it out of the box and look at it a moment?"_

_Ino blinked, 'He's… actually asking?' she rolled her shoulders, "Uh, sure."_

_Naruto took the strange weapon out carefully, taking extra care to not mess with the paper on its hilt. It was only when the blonde boy removed the weapon that she realized, "There's a seal on it…"_

_He nodded, examining it carefully, "Yeah. Seals are something Ero-sennin is interested in and good at. He started teaching me basics, but it all sort of just goes in one ear and out the other."_

_Ino watched him examine it, a little amazed that Naruto seemed… calm about not being able to understand something very well. He usually was all gung-ho about overcoming things, but this… it seemed he wanted to take time to learn. The fact made her smile a little, seeing him so focused on something was so rare._

_After a moment's pause Naruto frowned, "It's high level stuff. That's all I know." He sighed, "Ah… it's too bad we can't unwrap it without ruining it… and I definitely don't want to do that. The seal's far too complicated to just _ruin_ it." He handed it over to her, and she examined it for a while herself before putting it away._

_It wasn't until a week later she found the note hidden in the bottom of the box._

It had been a long six days since the beginning of her search for _anything_ to make things connect. She took a moment to rub her temples, stretch, and then once again proceeded in her search.

After another grueling couple of hours, and the thought of giving up (who'd have known so many Uchiha had come in and out of Konoha? For that matter… no. What the hell? It almost seemed like she'd never see the _end_ of that clan name before hitting new clans at last) she finally hit something of worth.

A page hidden away and marked up so badly you almost couldn't get a single bit of information out of it... a page that was burnt around the edges, carrying the image of a young woman with long red hair and a name Ino breathed out softly under her breath in shock, "Uzumaki Kushina."

* * *

**I wanted **to give you more, but that's all I've (instantaneously) planned out for the 'eve. Next chapter I plan to post the usernames of all who reviewed in a group at the beginning of the chapter (makes me feel happy to see my name posted for '_Those who reviewed'_. In fact, **helps encourage me to review more**, at least someone appreciates it- actually, **it makes me even happier to read the story**).

I hope things/characters weren't too OOC… -horrified- and I hope I'm not pushing things along too hard. Oh- and just because Ino found something out, doesn't mean she's gonna go 'NARUTO! I FOUND UR MUM!' k? So don't jump the assumption wagon. I hope to write again soon (pray for the plunnies to attack me again) and see you all then.

**Please review! **_(Sorry for the long A/N's!)_


	7. The Beginning of the Puzzle

The whole thing with Texas' evacuation, and how so many people ignored it… that just annoys me. I'm sorry, but you would think after Katrina, people would have learned that if the government says "Get out," you get the heck out- especially when they give loads of time. That said…

**I fixed Chapter 6 extensively Wednesday**, so uhm… **people may have to go back and read it again**? I changed the whole first half and made it better (I wasn't quite so sick), cleaned up the second half. Hopefully this will be the last time I will have to revamp a chapter so much to make readers go back. I'm also going to do different dividers.

**I'M SORRY**!! DX

But hopefully things are less… "convenient." I'm also thinking of a fic-title-change. Not sure what to change it to but, whatever. It may or may not happen. Another thing: This chapter ended up as 6 pages in size 10 font in word. Hurrah for doing more then about 2 pages worth of story. :D Ah yes. And as usual, I didn't proofread, nor do I have a beta. If there's some sort of horrendous error, like a character having more knowledge then they should that wasn't covered in the manga or the fic… yeah. Lemme know.

**Big thanks **to the following for reviewing: **someone179, CelticReaper, CrabbyOldHobbit, King of the DamnD, grumpywinter, thinking-about-it, atlantis-rob, Jfitzgerald, Energeezer, Mrs-N-Uzumaki, TheFinalFighter, twilight guardian, Dante Elric or WDG**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any song lyrics. (BRAVE SAINT SATURN!! WEE 2 MORE DAYS!)

**XxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXx**

_Every breath has sacred weight,  
Every life has some design.  
Can we kill and also save,  
Speak of life,  
While digging graves?_

_Brave Saint Saturn, __**Starling**__, Anti-Meridian_

**XxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXx**

_A page hidden away and marked up so badly you almost couldn't get a single bit of information out of it... a page that was burnt around the edges, carrying the image of a young woman with long red hair and a name Ino breathed out softly under her breath in shock, "Uzumaki Kushina."_

Ino stared at the page she held in her hands for what seemed like hours, taking in all that she could about the Whirlpool refugee. The picture was old, faded, damaged, and yet it still held everything she needed. She could see Naruto's nose, his chin, his mischievous eyes- all in this one woman who she had never met. She placed the old and tattered piece of paper in her lap softly, leaning back as she meditated on what she'd found. After a moment, she went back to the records to see if there was anyone else with the last name, and found there were none.

This was it. It was all she had for any of the answers her brain could conjure.

She looked at the piece of paper once more, being careful of its delicate nature due to its aged and fiery damage. "Uzumaki Kushina, Ninja of Whirlpool." She nodded to herself and carefully pressed her finger to a mostly-undamaged spot on the page, and left a small chakra imprint so that she could re-locate the page easily. It would only last for a few days, but the young ninja hoped it would be just long enough so that she could talk to Tsunade-sama about the matter and possibly have a small investigation on as of why the page was so horribly mottled.

By no means were the markings and fire damage caused official means. It was definitely done by someone on the outside to mess with records.

But why? Why would someone specifically go out of their way to eradicate someone's file, even if they were a refugee?

Ino sighed heavily and wiped her forehead. That was enough. She could write up a report about it tonight, so with that thought in mind, she swiftly returned all the records she had removed back into their bindings and placement upon their shelves.

'_Uzumaki Kushina… Just looking at her picture, I'm sure she was a rather interesting ninja.' _she smirked to herself as she left the records office, '_Perhaps now I could ask my father about that little blue box with the kunai… and that letter._ _I'd really like to know who it was from…_'

She made her way slowly home, stretching out her aching limbs from sitting too long, making what could have been a 10 minute run into a half an hour walk. She reflected on all she had learned through her investigation in the records office, while cleaning the Yondaime's home, and while tending the extensive garden outside the home.

After she had started working on the garden, she had come to the realization that there were a lot of medicinal herbs and such, which explained some of why Tsunade put her in charge there. Not only was she a med-nin, but she had extensive horticultural knowledge to fall back upon, and could easily replace a plant through special-order if it became necessary without having to go through a bunch of papers.

Ino yawned softly as she entered the flower shop, "I'm home."

Yuuna looked up from a vase she was arranging flowers in and smiled, "Welcome back. What've you been up to all day?"

The young girl waved a hand, "Researching something."

Yuuna quirked an eyebrow, "Was it because of something you saw while on your daily mission?"

Ino rolled her shoulders, "Kind of."

"I suppose you can't talk about though, can you."

"Nope."

"Of course." Yuuna looked towards the entrance to her home, "I believe your father came home just before you with dinner. You two can start ahead of me, I just need to finish that last bouquet before tomorrow and closing up for the evening."

Ino nodded, "Alright. Thank you."

"Of course."

She entered her home and made a quick run to her room where she changed out of her ninja uniform and put on a more relaxed outfit before heading to the dining room. There her father was just finishing setting up the dishes on the table. He looked up and smiled at her, "Hey kiddo."

Ino smiled, "Hello father. Do anything interesting today?"

Inoichi shrugged, "Delivering flowers to people really wasn't what I signed up for doing when I became a ninja."

Ino smiled as she sat down, "Of course not."

There was a pause, "How did your day go?"

She paused and thought about it a moment, "Alright. I found out something that was a little unexpected. I was glad to find it though, another piece of the puzzle."

Inoichi nodded as he started eating, already knowing that Yuuna would be a little while longer. The two Yamanaka ate in silence for a short while, as Ino tried to piece together just what it was she wanted to ask and say.

"Hey dad?"

"Hm?"

"In the storeroom the other day… I found a little blue box I'd never seen before."

Inoichi paused and put down his bowl, trying to think of just what box she was talking about, "Oh?"

Ino nodded slightly, "Yeah… it had this really strange kunai in it and after examining it the first time, I later found a note hidden away in it." Ino paused to gauge her father's reaction., "Would you know anything about it?"

Inoichi paused, scrunching his face up a little, "A strange kunai?"

"Yeah. It had 3 prongs and some sort of seal… We were careful about that, since we didn't want to damage it."

Her fathers eyes widened a little with realization, "That was in the storeroom?"

Ino nodded slowly, "Yeah. I found it the day you wanted those scrolls…"

He looked at her a moment before rubbing his face a little, "I see… You made sure to be careful of the seal on the hilt?"

Ino nodded again, "Yes."

He father thought for a moment, "You said 'we'? Who else was looking at it?"

Ino paused in panic. She didn't know why, but she wasn't sure if she should tell him, and yet… "N…Naruto."

Inoichi quirked an eyebrow, "You were looking at it with Naruto? Why him?" He would have thought she'd look at it with someone like Shikamaru or Sakura or something, not _Naruto_.

Ino scratched behind her ear nervously, unsure of why she felt that way, "Is it bad I was looking at it with him? It wasn't some sort of family heirloom or something, right?"

"Well, no, I'm just… Naruto? I wasn't aware you really spoke with him."

She relaxed, '_Oh. So that's what it is.' _She smiled, "I just recently started trying to get to know him, he's… nice. He helped me out a bit when sensei…"

Inoichi nodded, "That I remember. Now, why with Naruto?"

Ino paused and thought about it. Why _had_ she decided to share the secrets of the blue box with Naruto? Sure, it was a simple weapon with a very intricate seal, but was it simply because he was there at the time? "I'm… not really sure. I guess after I'd made him dinner my curiosity about the box's contents got the better of me and I decided we could both check it out."

Inoichi looked at her curiously, "But what if it had held a family secret?"

Ino blushed lightly, "Uh, well I'm sure I could have… done something to make him forget. Hit him with a frying pan or something?"

Her father stared at her a moment before chuckling, "Right, next time be sure to check a box's contents of secrets _first_ before running out with it to look into with other people outside of the clan, got it?"

Ino blushed a little more deeply at her mistake, "Yes sir."

Inoichi nodded and smiled to himself, "So… the box held a 3 prong kunai with a seal and a note?"

She nodded, "Yeah."

"Do you have the box with you?"

She finished the last bite of her meal before answering, "It's upstairs in my room… should I go get it?"

Her father nodded, "I would appreciate it if you would."

Ino nodded and quickly made her way upstairs as her father resumed eating. She quickly went to her special safe and removed a few of her seals before grabbing the box and setting up the seals again. She walked back downstairs to find her mother had sat down at the table and started eating while she was away.

Yuuna looked away from Inoichi to her, quickly noticing the box and coming to a realization before going back to her meal calmly. Ino sat down once more and passed the box to her father, "This is it."

Her father had recognized it easily and looked it over, "This isn't in too bad of shape considering how old it is."

Ino blinked as he opened it and looked at the weapon inside, instantly going into what seemed a past memory, "We could tell it was old… just… not _how_ old."

The older blond nodded, "I see, well, this is from just before you were born. Well, maybe half a year or so."

Ino's eyes widened a little. The box and everything in it were in _quite_ good condition for their age then. She suddenly surprised herself with realizing how lucky it was that the folded note didn't break apart from being opened, all things considered.

He father carefully took out the weapon and examined it, "I still wonder at the craftsmanship of it, of course I would expect nothing but the best from someone like him. I'd almost forgotten he'd used this specific kind of kunai… you really can't find these anymore."

Ino tilted her head slightly, "Was it the person who wrote that note the one who used that kunai?"

Inoichi nodded absentmindedly, "Yes. It was his most preferred weapon combined with his most deadly technique."

Ino paused, "What do you mean?"

Her father looked to her, "The seal on this tag is very special, and deals with a very special technique that helped shape one of our greatest Hokage. He became a legend in battle, and someone to be feared to the point of other villages posting a 'flee-on-sight' warning."

Ino paused again, thinking back to the letter's sender and the things she had learned in school. '_Flee-on-sight? A legend in battle… during a war perhaps? A special kunai that helped in the use of an incredible technique… and a name that was partially blurred to illegibility due to water. Mi--o…'_

One day looking back, she was sure she could imagine laughing at herself for how slow and stupid she was being.

Yuuna looked at Ino curiously, "Is it really that hard to piece together?"

The girl blushed, "Uhm… uh… the Fourth Hokage?"

Her parents clapped to tease her, "Bingo!"

Ino flushed more deeply, feeling embarrassed it took around five minutes of her thinking, just to guess something so _obvious_. Suddenly, a realization came to her, "Wait a second, that was a girt to you from the Fourth Hokage?"

Inoichi nodded, "Yes. It was after we had been on a rough mission and it was just after I'd learned Yuuna was pregnant, so I was rather stressed that mission."

Ino was shocked. So that was the Fourth Hokage's handwriting?

It was surprisingly sloppy.

Inoichi smirked, "So, you find anything at his house? I know you're the new caretaker keeping up the place."

Ino looked down, "Nothing really."

Her father looked at her for a moment, humming softly to himself, "No… I suppose not."

The subject was dropped.

**XxXxXxXxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxXxXxXx**

Ino looked outside her open window as she sat resting on her bed, her knees pulled halfway to her chest in a relaxed manner thinking over all she'd learned that day. A special journal sat closed with a pen on top of it, having already written down everything she felt was noteworthy so she wouldn't forget before she had decided to contemplate quietly.

Closing her eyes she thought back to the note and smiled softly, remembering what she could from it in slight melancholy.

_Inoichi,_

_Congratulations! I know the news came rather abruptly just before leaving on our last mission and that it was hard, but I know it'll help give you an even stronger drive in the battlefield. I give you this gift as a show of friendship and as a comrade in battle. If you ever get in a bind, use it and I'll be there to help you, just as I was able to the other day. My final words of advice to you are this- Always protect those most precious to you. Fight with and beside them, fight for them, and protect them with all that you have. If you do, you'll have no regrets in life, and your path will not waver._

_-Mi--o_

She smiled and thought over her ninja career and all that she had accomplished with her teammates and fellow ninja. The good times, the hard times, and even the sad ones. She took a moment to reflect on Asuma-sensei's life and all that he had done, and came to feel he had upheld the words from the note the Yondaime had written to a T. Asuma-sensei had fought alongside his fellow ninja valiantly, and sure, he had perhaps taken a few wrong turns, but in the end…

He had led a life that was without regret.

No matter what had happened between him and his past comrades, all of his struggles within his life she would never know… To her, Asuma-sensei had lived his life to the fullest and felt that she could say he regretted nothing.

Her thoughts then turned to Naruto as she brought his jacket to herself and wrapped it around herself to keep out the autumn chill that drifted from her window on a soft breeze. She reflected on all that she knew of him from the past and from what she had learned of him in the present. '_Naruto is.. Someone I can call a precious friend, I think._' With that thought a solid decision was made, '_I'm going to talk to him more, and purposely seek him out… I'm going to be his friend, and not just Sakura's rival._' She nodded to herself assuredly and smiled.

'_I wonder what he thinks of me? Am I someone he thinks of as a precious person?_'

Ino suddenly realized with a small ache in her chest, '_I'd really like that…_'

She would be sure to get to know him.

She had to.

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**Takato: **I managed to make flow for once during this chapter! YAY! …I hope Minato's letter wasn't too lame. Next chapter I'll focus on Naruto himself… and the strange happenings that are starting with him.

**Please Review**!


	8. Heartstrings Come Undone

So I entered the Sonic and the Black Knight fan art contest. Anyone else do that? (Yeah, I spent 8 and a half hours Thursday the 18th working on that to make it for the deadline. -still recovering from that-

Today I thought it'd be about a good day to update.. And well, I thought about what should happen this chapter a bit more in depth. I hope you don't mind me jumping a bit. I'd rather not follow some of the manga events to the smallest detail- that's boring. -shrugs-

Final thing: WHY BRAVE SAINT SATURN!? WHY REESE! WHY ISN'T ANTI-MERIDIAN ON iTUNES _**STILL**_!! DX -headdesk-

I even bought a 15 iTunes card just to get it… -sobs- I'm reducing myself now to see if it's on YouTube, 'cause otherwise I'm gonna end up killing Starling and Mercenary before I even buy the whole album…

Maybe I should just buy the rest of Relient k's The Birds and the Bee Sides to make up for my suffering and to distract me.

Pfft. Like that'd work.

**Thanks to**: **CrabbyOldHobbit, arosario, Mrs-N-Uzumaki, CelticReaper, thinking-about-it, DuckTapePlotMaker, Namikaze777, Yonboy86, shelvesinthecloset, atlantis-rob**

..Holy crap. I just went to Anberlin's myspace, and the new version of 'Feel Good Drag' is AWESOME! WOOHOO!! The new CD come's out September 30th… muahahahahahaha. -rubs hands together- (the lyrics for some reason are already available. .. ) - Ah yeah. Once this CD comes out, I may change the title of this fic to part of the below lyric song title. Don't know yet though.

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_Live, I wanna live inspired  
Die, I wanna die for something higher than myself  
Live and die for anyone else  
The more I live I see this life's not about me_

_**Burn Out Brighter (Northern Lights), **__Anberlin- New Surrender_

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Naruto laid on his bed staring at his cracked and peeling ceiling staring into nothing, and yet taking in all that was around him at once. It was one of those few mornings where meditation and contemplation was necessary, for something was coming over the horizon.

He just didn't know what was looming in its shadow.

He sighed heavily and closed his eyes, thinking back to words said and wondering about the ones not.

"_What if Sasuke doesn't want to go with you? …You said you thought of Sasuke as a brother. Well, I'm asking what'd you do if Sasuke were to attack Konoha?"_

"_Could you weigh Sasuke's life against Konoha?"_

"_You're such a child… There are times when ninja must make painful choices."_

"_I've given you some of my power. I hope… the day never comes when you have to use it."_

Uchiha Itachi, a man Sasuke knew as his older brother and the man who slaughtered his clan.

What sort of man was he? Naruto's personal perspective was built around what little he knew of the older Uchiha brother, yet during there talk…

Uchiha Itachi smiled, faintly, as if filled with a little hope from his foolish words.

Did he imagine it? No, of course not. Despite being in a genjutsu the power that Itachi shoved into Naruto was quite real, an it rested heavily in his mind and on his soul. Like a bird awaiting the end of the storm in its nest, it sat huddled in wait. Will is be caged forever, or will it burst with the embers and flame of a phoenix?

Naruto turned over before pushing himself up, placing a hand to his forehead.

'_This is stupid._' Why did he keep remembering and studying his run-in with Itachi before he…

Itachi was a dead man.

For some odd reason, Naruto felt… sad about it. He couldn't figure out why it was, but he felt something was lost.

Something had gone horribly, horribly wrong down the line, and he would probably never know just what that was.

Itachi smiled.

It was absurd.

Naruto hauled himself out of bed and got himself ready for the day, hoping it'd be better then yesterday.

Oh god, how he was wrong.

_**He studied him as he laid there, wondering if he was making the worst decision of his life.**_

_**A young Anbu appeared by his side, "Hokage-sama…"**_

_The addressed turned slightly, "Yes?"_

"_The front lines have been decimated. We need you to go through with your plan soon."_

_The older ninja nodded, tired and wishing his time hadn't run out so quickly. He'd made the final arrangements, but…_

_What about his final words?_

_He took the carefully bound child from its holding place with strong, yet shaky hands. His breath held just barely a shudder as he turned, "Will you accompany me a little?"_

_The young man stood and nodded, the family crest of a fan on his person._

_Minato ran swiftly from the hospital as the younger ninja following swiftly behind, studying his Hokage's back._

"_What's your name?"_

_The younger stayed silent for a moment, "Uchiha Itachi."_

_The older blond nodded, "I see…"_

_Silence reigned the rest of their run, yet just at the halfway point to where the Kyuubi was attacking, the Yondaime stopped in his step for a moment. "If you had to choose… between those you loved, and Konoha, what would you choose?"_

_Itachi paused, "Choose?"_

"_Yes. Konoha, or your loved ones?"_

"_Konoha, because protecting Konoha also protects the people I care about."_

_The Fourth Hokage thought for a second before nodding and looking back to the young Uchiha and smiling, "Remember those words. Thank you."_

_The man disappeared with the child, only for the boss Toad to be summoned a moment later up ahead and to continue on to Kyuubi's path._

_**A man had never faced Death Itself with such fervor.**_

To put it simply, he was a mess. A mess of emotion and angst. He couldn't believe it, a man who had trained and raised him, cared for him and watched as he progressed into adulthood…

Jiraiya was dead.

Jiraiya knew so much and _had_ much to teach him yet, Naruto's training by no means was complete…

And now his teacher was dead.

The Old Man's death hurt his heart, constricted his chest in ways he never felt before. He grieved for him in a totally different way then he had for Haku, or for Gaara and his suffering.

Yet, Jiraiya…

This was far worse. His world had been turned upside-down. One day he was there, and the next, he was gone.

The good-for-nothing money stealing, skirt chasing, trashy novel writer was really dead.

Naruto felt crushed. His world was grayed. He'd never felt this sort of consuming grief before, how in the world could such a guy die like that?

The young blond sat at the riverbank by the bridge, sitting and staring at the water with a blank expression on his face. It was silent, and no one would be there at this time of day, so he could be left in peace.

He was conflicted, there was so much he needed to discuss with Ero-sennin, and now…

"He's not coming back."

It made him want to curl up into himself, "Why did he have to do something so… so _stupid._" He intook a shuddered breath.

Jiraiya was one of those people who were supposed to grow very old and enjoy doing what he did until he died of natural causes.

"Naruto…?"

The blond clenched a fist at the sound of his name and replied flatly, "What?"

Ino paused, taken aback slightly. She had heard about what had happened and had rushed out to see him, but now she wondered if it would have been better to come to him later in the evening.

She breathed quietly, deciding to go and sit a few feet away from him, to give him some sort of comfort while also trying to be mindful of his personal space, "It hurts, doesn't it."

Naruto pulled his legs close to his chest, placing his folded arms on the top of his knees as he rested his head lightly on one of the sides of his arms. He couldn't really be mad at Ino for wanting to help him, he knew he'd done the same for her. He just wished she would have left him alone for a while longer, he didn't really want to talk. "I guess."

Ino nodded to herself, staring at the water's flow and staying silent and contemplative.

It felt like hours before Naruto felt his agitation fade away, before he began to feel gratitude. He was starting to be happy he had Ino's silent support. He really had absolutely no idea how to deal with grief…

He didn't have a lot of people who he loved and had that love returned.

There was a little shuffle of movement before Ino sat down next to him, opposite his position, and before he realized what was happening, he felt strong arms surround him and pull him close. His arms had become instantly limp before awkwardly wrapping around her lithe form and suddenly realizing what was going on.

Ino was hugging him, trying to comfort him in a way he'd never experienced and suddenly he felt the tears he'd tried to hold back suddenly break loose. He held her a little closer to himself awkwardly before he focused his eyes on the ground as he closed his eyes tightly, attempting to hold in the fresh wave of grief.

Ino felt awkward about the whole thing herself, yet, she couldn't help but feel the need to hug him and give him a chance to cry. How else was he going to be able to release his emotions? What could jolt him to keep him from bottling it up? She couldn't remember a time he had been embraced. Of course there was a lot of his life she couldn't account for, but…

Had anyone ever held him as a child? Had he ever felt a motherly comfort?

She knew she was stepping on boundaries and personal space that she more then likely had no right to cross, and yet…

Who else but her? Who else could carry out this task for him before it was too late?

She felt him awkwardly wrap his arms around her confused before something clicked, and he held her a little closer, a barely noticeable tremor running through him as he did so. "I'm sorry." She felt his grief so strongly and couldn't help but feel her eyes burn as tears started to pour down her cheeks alongside him.

They cried for their loss, and she cried for him and all that was lost.

Despite all of this, she only hoped he remembered, "..Naruto?"

He jolted slightly, but she didn't relinquish her hold on him so he relaxed again, "What?"

Ino paused, "Can you do me a favor?"

"Hm?" He didn't trust his voice as much as she didn't hers.

"Don't forget."

Naruto stared ahead, his eyes waterlogged with tears, "Yeah."

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-covers head- I hope that chapter wasn't too awkward… nngh. I tried to keep things in context, but man, this chapter didn't turn out ANYTHING like I'd originally planned. Darn random Minato moment and random Ino/Naru comfort idea. Hh.. I really had some interesting plot I'd wanted to dish out this chapter, but instead, I got through the Jiraiya death Naruto angst thing. -shrugs- The things that happen while writing….

Well anyway. As for the Minato Itachi talk, I know a lot of authors have him talk to Kakashi, and to be honest, that still could have been possible for him to do in this story, I just wasn't interested in writing it. I may later at another point, but it might never happen. -shrugs- Anyhow…

**Chapter preview**: Naruto shuffled a little and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly as she looked at him strangely, "Uhm… Ino? I need some help…"

_**Please Review!!**_


	9. The Crow's Swirl and the Waking Fear

First, I'd like to thank: **CrabbyOldHobbit, thinking-about-it, CelticReaper, grumpywinter, Mrs-N-Uzumaki, Type-R, Dark Ravie **for their reviews.

BS2- Anti-Meridian- ..is still not available on iTunes. Couple my frustration with that, and waiting for **SONIC CHRONICLES THE DARK BROTHERHOOD**, with planting WEPEAR BERRIES in Pokemon Pearl for a contest item (130 of 'em, for the SURFBOARD!) and you have one disgruntled author.

Combined with Kishimoto throwing me a bone- which promptly SCREWED OVER MY PLOT COMPLETELY! And you have

UPDATE LAG! WOO!

I'm still going to use my idea, and I'm still going to be using the Naruto S. filler (this chapter actually) but yeah. I'm not going to be exact with the Sora filler (so be aware now that this chapter may have some.. Jumping). I don't even remember any of those new characters' names. -laughs- So they won't be in here. You won't hardly see 'em anyway, and you'll know which character was who I'm sure.

End of note: **SAGE NARUTO IS AWESOME!! **

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_Look children to the eastern sky  
When you hear the voice say your last goodbyes  
Look there to the eastern skies  
When the ghosts take hold of the men who died  
Look children to the eastern sky  
When your fathers weep and your mothers cry  
Look children to the eastern sky  
Look children to the eastern sky_

_Anberlin- __**Misearbile Visu (Ex Malo Bonum)**__, New Surrender_

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_There were cries in the night, the smell of blood, smoke, and fear burned in the air as the growls and cries of dying men were heard. Harsh breathing against the chains, the pain, the agonizing reality of what was going on._

_It was completely unnatural, and should not have occurred._

_Yet it was, the chakra burned at the touch, his skin peeled in the wake of that destructive force. The feeling was completely new and unwanted, and it had never occurred until that night._

_Then, sweet mercy came and stopped the internal flame._

Naruto gasped as he awoke to the twittering of birds and sunshine, sheets soaked with sweat and cold fear. He sat up slowly and brought a hand to the side of his face, '_Just what in the hell was that?_'

It was day number three that these nightmares had been occurring. Like someone else's memories, _'Maybe… Kyuubi's?'_ were running through his head, laughing at him in their obscurity.

'_Did this happen in the past?_'

_**Perhaps we shall see.**_

Naruto froze. The furball rarely spoke to him directly without his purposely going to the seal and seeking him out, '_So you have no idea what that dream means?'_

Silence met him. The Kyuubi wasn't going to speak to the ball of dirt anymore then necessary, and that was just fine with Naruto.

It was better that way.

The fifteen year old Gennin decided enough was enough, and got himself out of bed.

'_Today's going to suck… dattebayo'_

Meanwhile, Ino Yamanaka stretched as she walked through Konoha looking for a good place to eat breakfast with Sakura. It'd been a while since they'd spoken and she had questions to ask.

Sakura eyed her with an unusual quirk, "How can you handle wearing that?"

The blond kunoichi blushed to herself and looked at her current attire. Usual netting, and purple ensemble, topped off with Naruto's orange and black jacket.

Her inner fashion guru was sobbing.

Ino laughed awkwardly, "It's a little cold this morning, don't you think?"

Sakura looked at her friend's outfit, "I think pants would have done you more good then _that_ thing."

Ino blinked, only to glare at Sakura, "As his teammate, I would think you could talk to him about his _tastes_ in colors. He likes you well enough, I'm sure if you dragged him out and found something he'd buy it to please you."

Sakura looked to the ground in annoyance, "Of course he would. But that's manipulative…"

Ino nodded, "Exactly. If the colors really bother you, you could just tell him."

Sakura snorted, "As if that'd stop him."

Ino paused mentally, '_No, it wouldn't, would it? Does he wear those colors because he has to, or because he wants to?'_

Both girls stopped in time for Yamato to appear in front of them, "Sakura, we've been summoned by Tsunade-sama."

Sakura looked to Ino apologetically, "It seems we'll have to post-pone the girl chat."

The blond waved offhandedly, "It happens. We'll just have to re-schedule."

The pink kunoichi nodded and left with her temporary sensei, leaving Ino alone in the street.

She sighed and walked towards her favorite Tea and Coffee House.

Ino entered Ran's shop, the light chime of a bell being the only thing to announce her entrance. "Welcome to my shop, favored customer!"

The blond looked over and smiled at the chocolate haired owner, "Good morning, Ran."

Ran blinked, "Oh, Ino! It's been a while since you've visited." The older girl looked Ino over quickly, "And I see you have an interesting accessory today. Now, would you like the usual or something else?"

Ino felt herself blushing (that _really_ needed to stop before it became a problem) as she shook her head, "No, today I'd like a cup of your special green tea and some strawberry daifuku."

Ran nodded and went into the kitchen, leaving Ino to choose a window seat for two. She rested her chin on her hand as she watched people stroll by, starting their days peacefully and full of normalcy. Ran placed Ino's order in the middle of the table and sat across from her, knowing the shop wouldn't be busy for a while yet, "It seems you're rather melancholy today, Ino."

Ino started a little, surprised she had spaced out, "Ah… yes, I guess so." She took her tea and stirred it idly, "I have a lot on my mind." _'And most of it deals with Naruto! The least likely guy to be mysterious, dark, and obscure!'_

Ran nodded solemnly, her blue eyes dimmed a little, before brightening in slight mischief, "Ah, poor Naruto-kun… it seems his prized jacket is still out of his reach, neh?"

Ino flustered, "Ran! That's… well, uh…"

The shop owner laughed kindly, "Oh Ino, you really do seem to have a lot troubling you."

The kunoichi sighed and fell back in her seat, "It's true. I've been pondering Naruto's past a lot lately, and I've been discovering some unusual things and… ah, well… It's all just gelling together."

Ran nodded and looked up a little, in contemplation, "Would you mind if I told you a story?"

Ino studied her friend for a moment, "No, I wouldn't mind at all."

Ran took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly before beginning her story, "I grew up with a boy who was incredibly obsessed with old texts and stories. He would babble on and on about the past, and the unusual clans and jutsu he discovered. Due to his interests, people had a hard time connecting with him… and since I had grown up with him, I was all he had. Slowly, I realized I loved this friend of mine more then as a friend, and he became an incredibly precious person to me… but then one day, he disappeared."

Ino blinked, "He… disappeared?"

Ran nodded, "After he had gone missing for a week I went to his house to see if he had returned. Nothing was moved from the day when I had seen him last, it was like… he had been spirited away or something."

"Was he… ever found?"

"No. To this day, Shinichi is still… utterly and completely gone." Tears built up in the shop owner's eyes as she looked to Ino directly, "Don't let what happened to Shinichi and I happen to you. A ninja's life can be long or short, and love can easily be lost. Do everything you can with confidence, and even if your feelings are rejected, you at least can have no regrets… because life is simply too short to be burdened with them."

Ino felt the tears build up in her eyes as she reflected on the Fourth Hokage's note, and the face of a red-haired smiling kunoichi… the faint smell of cigarettes and rain filled her senses as she lifted a hand to her face to wipe away the tears in a sudden rush of emotion, "Yes, life really is… much too short to make second guesses."

Ran nodded, "Ino?"

The kunoichi looked to her friend, "Yes?"

"Be good to Naruto, alright? I don't want to se him anymore hurt then he has been already…"

Ino studied Ran carefully, "Have you… heard something?"

Ran smiled in a somewhat fake way, "It isn't… It isn't anything I can really talk with you about."

She was surprised, and yet not.

All of the "adults" were like that when dealing with Naruto, weren't they? _'I'm going to get to the bottom of this._'

She never would have guessed some of her answers were going to literally end up on her doorstep.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Ino jumped at the sudden flurry of activity that had entered her shop, and before she even understood what was going on, Naruto slammed his hand on the counter of the flower shop and pointed behind him, "Do you see anything at _all_ interesting about this… this _teme_ here behind me!?"

The kunoichi tried to shake off her nerves and looked at the other highly disheveled boy that had been dragged into her shop. Cropped grey hair, blue eyes, unusual clothing (a monk of the fire temple perhaps?), a snide smirk, and the air of someone who felt they were better then someone else in the room.

The blond girl quirked an eyebrow, "Who's that?"

Naruto grabbed his hair in frustration, "He's-!"

"My name is Sora, and I have no interest in wasting my time talking to some _girl_ about _flowers_ and their tastes in _boys_."

Ino clenched her teeth and fist, '_I __**HATE**__ this guy already! Who the hell does he think he is!? BASTARD!_' She slammed a fist to the counter, "How dare you come in here assuming things of me! I'm Ino Yamanaka, student of the Godaime, Tsunade-sama! If you dare demean me and my family's business, I can _promise_ you you'll regret it _DEARLY!_"

Sora sneered and pushed the door to the shop open, "As if I care about your opinion anyway."

Ino took a deep enraged breath, "THEN STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM OUR SHOP!"

Sora glared at her as the door shut, "No problem there."

With that, the newcomer was gone, leaving Naruto with an enraged kunoichi on his hands.

"That Sora…" Naruto rubbed his head a bit, "He's so _frustrating_! But, I have to keep an eye one him." He looked to her apologetically, "Sorry about that, I'll be sure to buy a flower or two to make up for it, alright?"

Ino blinked, "Uh… sure…"

She watched as Naruto left, and then jumped, "Naruto!"

The boy stopped just as he was about to release the door and looked to her confused, "What?"

Ino left the counter and stopped halfway to the door, "Uh…" She hated herself for feeling so awkward, "Are we… friends?"

Naruto blinked and took a step back in the store, "Huh?"

Ino clenched a fist, "I… I'd like to know if we're friends Naruto."

He looked at her for a moment before smiling, "Of course we are. Haven't we been friends since we were Gennin?"

She looked at him and blinked, startled, "Wh-"

Naruto waved, "Ma-ah, well, I better catch up to that jerk before he causes more trouble, see you later Ino-chan!"

With a flash of orange, and a yell ahead of him, Naruto, the most surprising ninja, left.

Leaving Ino a little confused, and perhaps, guilty.

'_Has he… really thought of us as friends since our Gennin days?_'

She let the fact sink in for quite some time, and slowly, a smile found its way on her face. '_I won't loose, Asuma-sensei, I won't!_'

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Naruto awoke in the middle of the night, his breathing heavy as he stared at his cracked and peeling ceiling, "That dream again." This was dream number six, and it was starting to take a toll on his body, '_How long will I have to deal with this?_'

_Perhaps, until Sora deals with _his_ inner demons._

Naruto felt a sheen of cold sweat immediately surface, '_Wha- Who?'_

_You know. I gave you some of my power, didn't I?_

Oh good Lord in heaven.

Naruto closed his eyes tightly, '_I'm just dreaming, I'm just dreaminimjustdreamingdreaming DREAMING!'_

Like a crow settling itself in its nest, something silenced, and Naruto fell asleep once more.

"_Naruto."_

_He looked at Ero-sennin in annoyance, "What?"_

_The old man regarded him for a moment, putting down his pen, "It's been quite some time since we've started training you in using Kyuubi's chakra, and communicating with it, correct?"_

_He blinked, confused, "Yeah, so what?"_

_Jiraiya leaned back slightly, "You need to get a better grip on your emotions, Naruto. If you don't, the people around you will get hurt by your own hand, and it gives the Kyuubi a stronger reign of control."_

_Naruto paused, thinking this over, "So…"_

_Jiraiya sighed and looked him dead on the eye, "If you fail to keep your head in difficult situations, one day, Kyuubi might devour you. No matter how much thought has gone into that seal the Fourth placed on you, it can only do so much- and it is starting to weaken."_

Naruto woke up once more, his nerves a jumbled mess as he jumped up and ran to the bathroom, only to be met with purple-tinted eyes, '_It's true, it is and oh god I'm being haunted by a dead man.'_

He needed help, fast. But who could he turn to? Who in the world could help him?

Ino flashed in his mind, and the memory of her Mind Switch Jutsu. '_Her father's on call for interrogation, isn't he?_' Ino and her family's jutsu would be perfect for this sort of thing, right?

The Kyuubi flashed in his mind then, making him shudder, '_No. No, no, no. That would be bad, wouldn't it? Sakura… I can trust Sakura knowing and accepting me, but Ino?_' He shuddered once more as he imagined that confrontation, '_Definitely not a good idea.'_

He dressed and finished his morning routine, only to come to a realization, '_Just the other day I told her we were friends ever since we were Gennin, and now I'm backing out? As if we're total strangers?'_

He grabbed his right arm, remembering their awkward embrace by the river. '_No. We __**are**__ friends. It may not have seemed like it at the time, but we've been friends since then… and… she is the first person to ever give me that kind of affection willingly… She… she deserves to know, just as much as Sakura-chan, doesn't she?'_

_A ninja must have a clear mind, this hold even truer for someone such as yourself, a Jinchu-_

'_SHUT UP!'_

Naruto gasped and felt dizzy at his mental outburst and flurry of thoughts.

This was getting out of hand far too fast, '_I need to talk to Ino._'

He hurried out of his apartment and quickly found himself on Ino's street. He made his way to the shop, and found it closed. '_It really is too early for this, dattebayo.'_

Naruto sighed and went around to the side door and knocked awkwardly. He was really the type to just waltz in…

Yuuna opened the door in confusion, "Naruto-kun?"

He looked at her sheepishly and smiled, trying his best to seem calm, "Uh… is Ino-chan available?"

She blinked, "Ah, yes. Hold on, if you don't mind coming in for a moment…"

Naruto brought his hands up, as if to placate her, "Ah, uh, no, I'll stay out here, thanks…"

Yuuna arched a brow, "If you say so."

She left him at the doorway, leaving Naruto to hear some mumbling before Ino appeared before him, "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto shuffled a little and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly as she looked at him strangely, "Uhm… Ino? I need some help…"

The kunoichi paused and looked behind her a moment, "I'll be out for a while!"

Yuuna replied, "Of course! Be sure to eat, Ino!"

Ino rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah…" She closed the door behind her and took Naruto's arm, dragging him along.

He was startled by her action and fumbled in his steps and words for a few moments, "Uh, Ino…"

She looked to him, "If you're coming to me for help, it _has_ to be important, right?" Naruto nodded dumbly, "Alright then. Would the park be good?"

Naruto looked at the park that had appeared on the horizon, void of anyone, "Uh… sure."

The girl nodded and continued her march as the boy simply allowed her to drag him, he needed to collect his thoughts anyway.

Once they reached the park, she lead him over to the swings and sat, aware of the fact that he was incredibly nervous if the unusually cold and clammy hands were anything to go by. "Alright Naruto. We should be able to talk privately here."

Naruto nodded and joined her on the swings, wrapping his arms and hands around the old chains, "I… I've been… no… uhm.."

Ino observed him, "One thing at a time."

He looked at her confused for a moment, and slowly he realized she could tell how mixed up he was. It was embarrassing, "Right… Well, I haven't… told anyone about this… so you'll be the first. You see… when we were trying to find Sasuke last time… just before we ran into that Madaara guy, I ran into Itachi Uchiha…"

Ino jolted, "What?!"

Naruto ignored her and kept going, "He did something to me… he said that he had 'Given me some of his power' while I was trapped in his genjutstu… and, while at first I wasn't sure if it had actually happened… I think… no.. I… I know he _did_ give me some of his power… and perhaps a little more."

Ino was shocked, "What… Why are you telling me this?"

Naruto felt sweat trail down the side of his face as he looked at her, his masks torn off, leaving him a total wreck and making the extent of his fear obvious, "Because, he's in my head Ino, and I need your help straightening this all out before I loose it and accidentally give Kyuubi control."

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_**S**_orry if the chapter jumped too much, I have to re-locate and watch the Sora filler arc… the later episodes, to clearly remember how things went, and to finish this out nicely without being as vague as I was this chapter- Of course, I'm mostly relying on the readers to make up their own story on how the Sora arc could have gone if Asuma wasn't there, since he's quite dead in this story by this point in time. That, and who wants to read an exact re-make of something you've already seen within the series? (I also didn't want to make you guys wait over research, since then I would take much, much longer to update.)

Well, hope you enjoyed it, and sorry that the quality of chapter 7 is one of those random miracles of the world that happens once in a while. -sweat-

Oh yeah- who knows what anime/manga Ran and Shinichi come from? -laughs at her lameness-

_**Please Review!!**_


	10. A Nation Set on Tombstone

I've been blown away by the song Return but City Lights on the album "This is an Outrage!". I've never heard the book of Revelation used to beautifully in song.

It's 2AM (good God, I should be about done with a fic update by this time, not starting!) I decided I would update because I didn't want to make you guys wait much longer.. And… and I'm trying to keep up an update schedule… -sob-

Oh yes. And I've been playing **Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood** like crazy since it came out last week.

**Last chapter, if you felt **Ino was "blushy" sorry about that. I meant for her to only get a tiny bit flustered and embarrassed only a few times, though to some it might have seemed to be more then that… -shrugs-

Sora Filler: **Yes**. I'm aware that **Asuma and Jiraiya were alive during the filler**. (I also forgot about the mass-slaughter, ok?) THAT'S what makes this so different. I mean, I'd prefer if you made up your own version in your head about what could have occurred between Sora and Naruto, but, whatever. It's alright, just **don't hate me for it**. Man. I'm already pretty much caught up with continuity, and if you like me updating constantly like this, don't get agitated with me for **grasping at straws**. -trying to hold out and see if anything more with **Sage Naruto **occurs-

A BIG THANK YOU goes to--: **CelticReaper, thinking-about-it, grumpy winter, Namikaze777, CrabbyOldHobbit, shelvesinthecloset, DarkSmile, A-man, DarkRavie, Yonboy86, saiyan prince1, Mrs-N-Uzumaki**

(End of Writing note: I didn't proof-read this, so I apologize, and it's now 4:17 AM.)

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_We licked our wounds and mourn the dead  
Swallow the story hook and sinker  
Is that what we meant when we said  
That we never would forget?_

_Are we fools and cowards all  
To let them cover up their lies?_

_Thrice, __**Broken Lungs, **_**"The Alchemy Index Vols. III & IV - Air & Earth"**

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"_Because, he's in my head Ino, and I need your help straightening this all out before I loose it and accidentally give Kyuubi control."_

His words echoed in her thoughts, chilling her to the bone. His expression was difficult for Ino to swallow along with the information he'd just dumped on her plate. It was impossible, yet it made complete sense by just giving it a few second's worth of thought. She swallowed thickly, "Naruto?" her voice was unusually raspy.

Sweat trickled down the side of his face, "Yeah?"

"Could you tell me about the Kyuubi first? I… I think I need to know more about _that_ first, before I can help you at all with your problem with Itachi…"

_Yes Naruto, that was a little much and unwise._

Naruto shook himself and moved his gaze to the ground, allowing the chains of the swings to dig into his skin, "Right… Uh… well-" He had to think about this carefully. Why was it so much easier with Sakura? Was it because Gaara was dying, "The Kyuubi isn't something that can really be killed, same with the other tailed beasts… I guess. When the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, the only solution was… to seal him. From what I've come to know and understand, it's only really possible to do this with newborns since their chakra pathways haven't fully formed… and I just so happened to have the bad luck of being born on the day Kyuubi attacked."

Ino pondered this for a while, silence raining between the two blonds. One, attempting to keep a reign on his sanity and to shut up the annoying black crow in the back of his head, and the other simply digesting information. '_October 10__th__… the day the Fourth Hokage died, and the day Naruto was born… but…_'

"You couldn't have been the only one born that day and year, Naruto."

He nodded, "I know that now… but even so, I don't have any idea why _I_ was the one chosen. I don't know anything about my parents, and yet, despite being cursed with being a Jinchuuriki… the person who first showed the most care for me was the guy who used me as the _keeper._"

Ino observed her companion again, watching his features and studying him as he spoke, "So… was it the Yondaime who sealed the Kyuubi inside of you?"

Naruto nodded, "For whatever reason, it seemed… like it was the only option at the time."

She closed her eyes, thinking back to all she knew. She then looked towards the Hokage monument and studied the Fourth Hokage's features that had been carved upon its rough surface. A praised hero and legendary ninja. If there was anything to go by from the old textbooks, he had shocking yellow hair and unusually bright blue eyes. She tried to picture the monument's face with these colors as she thought.

"He wanted me to be known as a hero of the people, and to be treated well."

Ino started as she turned to him, noticing that he had joined her in gazing at the monument, "It was… his last dying wish." he made an unusually sarcastic snicker and facial expression, "The people betrayed him in his death, you know? He wanted something so simple, but instead they hailed him as hero, and I the demon."

His bitterness ran so cold and deep, despite all that he showed to the world. His mask had crumbled and fallen before her, and she honestly wasn't sure how to react. Normal Naruto she could yell at or laugh with, but this Naruto… was completely new.

It was also, probably very good for Naruto to have someone to vent these things to, "So that's why… that's why nice people like Mrs. Tachikawa could become so…"

"Bitchy?"

Ino gave him a look that he reciprocated with a small smirk, "…Yeah. Sure. I'd prefer horrible, but whatever. So… it's because the Kyuubi was sealed inside of you, and everyone blames you for the Yondaime's death and thinks you yourself are the Kyuubi itself?"

Naruto paused, "Yup. That about sums it up."

Ino sighed heavily and slumped, "I would have never thought a place like Konoha could do that to one of its own citizens…"

Naruto huffed, "It doesn't help that I found out about it the night after everyone had graduated from a teacher who'd only been using me to get the Yondaime's sealing scroll and planning to kill me."

Ino stared at Naruto shocked for a while before he got bothered, "What? I kicked his ass with the Kage Bunshin! It's the only reason I learned that move and graduated! Besides, I'm grateful, if only because I learned why everyone hated me."

Ino smacked her forehead, "Naruto… only _you_ could take something so life shattering and make it into sarcastic banter that amuses mainly yourself."

"I didn't think it was funny."

"Well of course not, but still. You were so serious a moment ago!"

Naruto looked at her blankly for several minutes until he finally broke into a wide grin and laughed.

Ino, to be frank, was disturbed, "What the hell is so funny!?"

The blond just laughed and waved her off, "Nothing, nothing… it's just, here I was, wanting you to go into my head and try and sort this whole Itachi thing out… and I end up telling you about the furball and just…" he sobered up a bit, and got an unusually peaceful look about him, "I'm glad you don't seem to hate me."

Ino's eyes widened. Naruto thought she'd hate him for having the Kyuubi sealed in him? "Why would you think that?"

He looked at her oddly, "Why shouldn't I? With how I've been treated and… well, it's…" He scratched his head, "It's sort of hard to explain… uh…"

It clicked, "You're afraid of being rejected by us, aren't you, Naruto?"

Naruto sighed heavily, "It's my daily nightmare."

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"Give me your report."

Kakashi nodded solemnly, "There seems to be some unusual activity at the outer walls, but otherwise things seem… quiet."

Tsunade's brows furrowed in aggravation, "We aren't getting anywhere with this enemy, are we?"

"It seems not."

The Slug Sannin growled, "And Sora?"

Kakashi turned to the other occupant of the room, Yamato, "Mmh… He seems to be getting along _decently_ with Naruto, but… he seems rather untrusting."

Tsunade nodded and leaned back into her chair, facing to the side as she clasped her hands, "Keep your guards up."

The two Jounin nodded and made a hasty exit.

'_Four dead men, five unusual ninja, and one teenaged monk who has an attitude problem.'_ As usual, the odds were stacked up against her, but as always in gambling, she always played to win.

It just didn't help that if she won, she truly lost something far greater then the initial loss.

A soft rapping came to her door, "Tsunade-sama?"

The older beauty turned towards the door, "Come in."

Ino carefully opened and closed the door, a stack of files in her hands, "I have some papers here for you to look over…"

Tsunade grumbled, "As usual."

Ino set the stack of medical reports down, keeping one file to herself. Tsunade noticed this, "What's that you have there?"

The younger kunoichi shifted nervously, "I was… looking over a medical file."

Tsunade studied her for a moment, "Who's?"

Ino knew she was in trouble, but she hadn't been able to help herself at the time, "N…Naruto's."

The older woman's eyes became sharp as she clasped her hands in front of her face, "Why would you need to look through his medical files? What use or purpose do they serve you?"

Ino shuffled, knowing the sort of trouble she was in, "I had a thought… and found myself wondering whether or not Naruto has been… born premature."

"Explain yourself."

At least Ino would be given the ability to elaborate, "I… well, Naruto told me about the Kyuubi, and-"

Tsunade jerked up, "What? He told you? When did this happen?"

"Yesterday morning."

The Slug Sannin leant back in her seat and waved a hand, "Continue your little theory then."

Ino blinked and nodded, "I was wondering if he'd been born early because he seems to always… lag a bit behind physically. I can't say for sure of course, but he was unusually short for his age back when we were growing up…"

Tsunade looked at Ino seriously for several minutes, causing the younger ninja to experience a heavy dose of anxiety.

"You would be correct."

Ino's eyes widened, "What-?"

Tsunade held up a hand, "This information doesn't leave the room."

Ino placed Naruto's file on top of the stack on Tsunade's desk and nodded.

The older woman thought back, "Kyuubi's attacks had been tracked since he came close to our borders. At the time, it seemed that it would go past the village. Yet, it suddenly changed its course and made a bee-line for the heart of Konoha. This caused a scramble on the Yondaime's part, and the completion of the method to seal it. However, the necessity of a newborn child for the sealing made things incredibly difficult for him, since who would ever be willing to give up their child for another person? So as the Kyuubi drew nearer, I was approached by Naruto's mother who knew about the Fourth's predicament."

"We discussed for a whole week until I decided that she would not back down from her offer, and so, the Yondaime was informed of the plan she and I had come up with. At first, he was adamantly against it, but as the Kyuubi drew closer to the village, the high council gave him and ultimatum, and a decision had to be made."

"October 9th, at 9 o' clock in the evening, the decision was made for him as the Kyuubi entered the city limits, destroying an outer wall of the village. I was called with a team, and Naruto's mother went into induced labor for 8 hours until Naruto was born. He was then brought to the Yondaime, and from there… well, most can only guess what happened in the meantime, but many can tell what the final product of their efforts were. Kyuubi was sealed by sunrise that day of October 10th."

Ino clenched her hands, trying to process all of this.

Tsunade's expression turned ironic, "It's amazing… the things that happened to that boy soon after he was born was what drove me away from the village, and yet, twelve years later he's the very thing that brought me back."

Ino could only find it in herself to cry for the incredible loss.

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Next chapter: City on FAIAH!! …or flooded with Zombies. Take your pick. (I hope to get that far. Goodness knows we don't need to make the "Sora Arc" last any longer then necessary. Hahah-- )

You know, finding out Shinichi played violin was shocking to me. It makes complete sense, but I either forgot the fact, or they just decided to throw it in there since it makes his ability to read notes make sense, considering how bad he is at singing (thus, moot point). -shrugs- (Hurray for Movie 12 OVA of Detective Conan -dies-)

Uhm… hope you enjoyed? -nervous-

_**REVIEW! (My 22**__**nd**__** birthday's October 14**__**th**__**! **_X3_** )**_


	11. What was Left Behind

**Big thank you to: CelticReaper, grumpywinter, Namikaze777, Mrs-N-Uzumaki, DarkRavie, omegahurricane, FunnyLaugh, Proman, Harteramo, CrabbyOldHobbit, Ryu Vision, someone179, Devin Warren, saiyan prince1**

I was wrong about the band name last chapter. It's Capital Lights. I keep getting it wrong. XD

A note about the premature thing.. I'm not 100 percent sure if I really should be using the word 'premature' or if I should say 'early'. Either way, It's as it is.. I'm just going to let you all know I have uncertainties about the terminology. Y'know. In case someone in the future decides to flip out on me about that. XD

Some things were left hanging: Of course they were, 'cause then you'll come back. XD I did things on purpose, because an answer can't always happen right away, and other things get in the way of knowledge. -shrugs-

Finally: It's not really my b-day anymore since it's 1:21 am on Wed but… meh. It's still Tuesday to me. XD Wish me a belated Happy Birthday. Huzzah. Ok, now it's 2:37 on Thursday, and only the Ino/Naruto conversation's been done. I hope the conversation isn't too awkward. -sighs- Time to get on to the fight…

…I just started writing here, and my cat Peaches just hit me. No, seriously. She hit me with her paw a couple times (which she **never **does) because she wanted to be on my lap. What a punk.

Dear iTunes. **It's officially been 1 month**. Post. _**Anti-Meridian**_. DX -pulls hair-

Hm…. I hope I'm not making Ino overly weepy. I just thought of that. As usual, no beta. Sorry.

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_You'll find me face down, hands bound, ready for the blade to make me two  
If judgment falls to meet this ground, that fate will run me through  
No day of wrath will see me break for that faithless breath of shame  
When the heretics come to make that list, be true to speak my name_

Demon Hunter, _Grand Finale, __**Storm the Gates of Hell**_

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Two days had passed slowly, leaving Ino to recollect herself and re-organize all of the information she had gathered. She walked slowly through the early morning streets of Konoha dressed in her ninja gear, and wearing Naruto's jacket. She clasped the slightly tattered and worn orange and black fabric close to herself to try and keep out the chill of the early morning as she walked. Things were going to happen today, good or bad, things were going to happen. It was like there was living, breathing electricity in the air all around the village. Ino looked around herself, highly alert, '_It's unusually creepy this morning…_'

She paused in her stroll in front of Naruto's apartment and stared up at the floor that he lived on. It really was a drab place to have to live, '_Naruto has to live like this because of the cruelty of the villagers… Yet, I just don't understand how and why he could still want to protect everyone so fiercely. It seems almost… unnatural.'_

As she stared up at Naruto's floor, his back door suddenly opened and he appeared on his balcony and stretched. He immediately noticed her looking, "Ino-chan?"

The kunoichi smiled awkwardly, feeling a little embarrassed she'd been caught looking at his balcony, "Hi Naruto-kun."

He scratched his head, "What are you doing all the way out here?"

Ino paused, "Uh, well…"

Naruto looked around a moment and gave her a directional nod, "How about we talk inside?"

Ino blinked and nodded as Naruto went back into his apartment. She pondered, '_I suppose it really is a bit early to have a conversation between 3 floors… a bit too open._' She walked into the complex and up the stairs until he reached his floor, where she found him waiting and fully dressed for the day by the door.

She smirked, "You got dressed fast."

Naruto shrugged, "Ero-sennin was good at making me get ready last-second."

Ino nodded and let herself in, Naruto closing the door behind her. She was happy to find his apartment was warm, "So…"

Naruto walked to the kitchen and started making himself breakfast, "What brings you over here, Ino?" He looked at her curiously from the stove as she went and sat at the table.

She shrugged, releasing the jacket from her grip, "I've been thinking over a lot of things as of late…"

He watched her silently for a moment, "Like what? Can you talk about it?"

Her gaze met his, "I'm… not completely sure."

Naruto gave her a confused look, "What do you mean?"

She pondered a moment, resting back on her seat, "It's just…" Ino steeled herself, "I've been investigating your past."

His eyes widened, confusion and perhaps a small bit of agitation showing through, "Investigating?"

Ino looked down and clasped her hands together, "I… I know I don't really have… a _right_ to be looking for personal information on you that you yourself might not even know but…"

He walked over abruptly and sat across the table from her, a cup on instant ramen in one hand, and a cup of tea in the other which he placed in front of her, "What have you found out?"

Ino blinked and looked at him confused, "Huh?"

Naruto scratched his head, "I know I should be angry, but _dammit_, I haven't even really _thought_ about that stuff in a long time… Who my parents were and stuff. I never got answers, so… I just.. Stopped asking questions."

She studied him a minute, "So…are you angry with me for looking?"

He sighed, "A little, but if you've actually gotten information, then I'd be happy to hear it… I think. I mean, you're the first person I know who's actually gotten information and is willing to tell it."

Ino clenched her hands a little, "But that's the problem, I'm not sure what I can and cannot tell you… Some of it's personal, and yet you have every right to know and just… It's all very difficult to work out."

Naruto studied her, trying to come to an understanding, "So you want to tell me, but…"

She looked at him suddenly freaked out, "A few days ago I was told a great deal of highly classified information surrounding the time _before_ your birth, and I'm personally sort of really… _upset_ about it… I want to tell you, but at the moment, it still hurts too much and is too fresh. Also, I still don't know who your parents were, exactly, so I'd really like to try and look into it a bit more…"

He looked at her a little shocked, "-Oh." He thought a moment, "So you're still trying to cope and organize things in your mind, huh? Kinda like Sakura-chan, always needing all the facts…"

Ino growled, "Comparing me to Sakura is just… _Naruto._"

He laughed at her glare, "I'm sorry, but there _is_ some truth to it."

She sighed heavily and took off his jacket, resting it behind her since she was getting a little too hot, "Whatever…"

Naruto slurped up his ramen quickly and Ino rolled her eyes, "I wish I could tell you _something_, Naruto."

He shrugged as he finished, "I've waited 15, a little longer won't kill me. It sucks though, _dattebayo_."

Ino nodded.

He paused a moment, "Hey Ino-chan?"

"Hm?"

"…Do you think we could work as a team?"

"A team?"

He smiled, "Yeah, y'know, collecting data and stuff on my past."

She looked at him, "So… you don't mind?"

He shrugged, "If you've actually had success so far, why stop something when the going's good?"

Ino smiled, "Thanks, Naruto."

He just waved her off, "We're friends, right?"

Ino nodded, "Right."

They smiled at each other as Ino left that mid morning.

The jacket was left behind.

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If you had told Naruto that his peaceful morning would end up in a bat-shit-crazy evening, he might have taken it in stride.

Or laughed in your face.

As the Jinchuuriki of the 9-tailed-beast, you really could just never know what sort of luck you would run into during the day.

Yet, as things were, Naruto was simply taking a long stroll after mulling over what had happened that morning, only to hear yelling in the distance.

He paused confused, '_That voice is really familiar…'_

_**If you haven't learned to recognize his almost constant screeching voice as of yet, there is no hope for you flesh bag.**_

_I will have to agree._

Naruto growled as he felt a spike of demon-chakra spike up in the air. Suddenly Naruto was _well_ aware of who it was yelling,_ 'Sora!_' He ran to where Sora and the person he was arguing with, and also came to recognize some other chakra signatures that more then likely meant trouble for the troublesome monk.

He lunged at his temporary teammate, "_**Sora!**_" As he did so, the wall next to Sora and the ninja he was fighting with exploded and several shuriken and kunai flew out. Naruto grabbed Sora and fell to his hands and knees while protecting him. The other boy looked agitated but shaken all at the same time.

"Naruto, what the-"

The blond smiled painfully, "Ah, I'm glad you're alright" _'Even if you _are_ a pain in the ass.'_ He felt himself grow suddenly feint, "I made it… just in time."

Sora growled and shoved him as he yelled, "I didn't ask for you to protect me!"

Naruto stumbled, only to be grabbed carefully from behind. Sora took a step back and looked around himself and lifted his now demonic arm, "You're all just the same as **them**!" He ran off and was quickly followed by other ninja.

"Naruto." The blond turned to realize it was Yamato who had grabbed him, "Are you-"

The blond passed out as he felt the warm thrum of Kyuubi's chakra working on healing his wounds, despite the fact he'd yet to have the multiple sources of injury removed.

_**As usual, brat. Back in my cage you appear.**_

Naruto opened his eyes to find himself in front of Kyuubi. He sighed, frustrated with himself, "What the hell is Sora's problem? Why does he reject our help?"

A translucent Itachi appeared off to the side, yet in between Kyuubi and Naruto, "_Are you not the same?"_

Naruto blinked, "Wha?"

Itachi stared at him with his usual blank expression and his mouth unmoving, "_You too reject help from others. Yes, you have come to accept people and yet… you are incredibly lacking. Your social personality is a complete fraud in many respects."_

Naruto glared and looked at his reflection in the murky water of his… well… wherever it was Kyuubi was sealed, "I…"

A puff of unbearingly warm and musty air bore over him in a sigh, _**I've healed your wounds brat. I will suggest you go to the Hokage tower. I sense a great deal of malevolence on the outside and I believe that… abomination is headed that way.**_

Naruto jerked his head up, only to find himself staring at a white ceiling, '_I'm becoming far to familiar with hospitals. Augh, I hate that smell.'_ Short musing done, the blond quickly and carefully sat up and redressed himself.

He observed the room he was in and was satisfied that no nurses or ninja were there. He smirked and walked over to the window and snuck out, moving quickly towards the Hokage tower. '_Sora… don't do anything stupid.'_

His almost fully healed injuries itched under their wrappings as he made his way up to the top of the Hokage building, '_Let me make it in time!_'

Naruto ran into the Hokage's office, "Look out!"

Tsunade found herself being grabbed by her pseudo-grandson just in time to see a thick metal arrow-spear rush past her and lodge itself into the wall. She would have been plunged straight through if she hadn't been grabbed in time. She turned, "Naruto!"

In a flash he moved and held a kunai to parry Sora's attack, "_**Sora!**_"

The young monk growled in frustration, "Naruto! Of _course_ you're here to get in my way! Why do you protect her, when she is only causing this country more problems!? We only have need for one king!"

Naruto growled, "King this, king that, it's all I ever hear from you! Why are you so focused on killing the old hag!?"

Sora smirked in a way that reminded the blond of Sasuke in a somewhat chilling way, "Because, it's revenge for my father's death! You wouldn't understand that sort of thing, would you _Naruto_!?"

That hit a nerve. Naruto shoved Sora roughly, "You-!"

Shizune rushed into the room followed by multiple ninja, "Tsunade-sama!!"

Sora made a frustrated noise before he jumped out of the window he had initially crashed through and went to make his escape.

"Sora!"

Tsunade recovered, "Naruto, follow Sora and don't let him escape!"

Naruto nodded and went after the monk quickly.

The sky crackled as the village was suddenly surrounded by 4 temple-like summons. Phoenix, Dragon, Tiger, and Turtle- all of which took their respective places in their associated direction from North, South, East, and West.

Ino looked at the sky, and watched in terror along with many other villagers and fellow ninja the mass genocide that began at that moment, when the lighting started up from the center of the village.

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**Takato:** I wanted to get a lot more done this chapter, but due to Pein's attack on the village in this latest chapter, I need to draw this out a little… that, and I have to figure out how to go about writing a battle. …I also have to figure out how to take care of Furido. Argh. In the end, despite the slightly lack-luster quality (and length) of the chapter, I hope you'll find yourselves happy with the next, since it'll give me more time to plan out how to go about writing it. Also, I have an interview tomorrow-today in about… 11 hours. **Wish me luck**, because I'm in desperate need of having a job.

_**Please Review!!**_


	12. The Fear, it Burns

Happy Thanksgiving, kids.

(Anti-Meridian finally came out on iTunes! YESTERDAY!!! 'BOUT TIME!! DX)

Thanks to: CelticReaper, grumpywinter, Namikaze777, DarkRavie, Mrs-N-Uzumaki, TheFinalFighter, Mos ad Interficio, Geor-sama, 62635377-nameless

this was not proofread... because the person I asked to do it went offline. -cry-

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_Did you hear the thunderous voice of Dr. King?  
The ghost of hope still strikes its brilliant lightning.  
Through the dark our hearts will scream,  
for a world we've only dreamed.  
And the past, it will decay,  
so sing goodbye to yesterday  
and I believe. _

_And we will burn, the starless night,  
the truth will ring through depths of twilight.  
Liberty, our hearts ignite,  
let hope still ring through depths of twilight. _

Brave Saint Saturn, _**Anti-Meridian,**__ Through Depths of Twilight_

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She watched beside the others as Sora transformed, surrounded by bubbling red as his skin started turning black. It was terrifying and painful how the red chakra burned their senses and lashed out against their skin. Yet Kiba, Akamaru, and Chouji tried their best to hold Sora back or to bring him to his senses. The others too.

None of it worked.

She cringed as Chouji was swatted away like a fly by Sora's (the Kyuubi's?) chakra-covered arm.

Ino's knees went weak at the thought that Naruto could actually experience this sort of pain and… terror. It was hard to imagine that what was happening to Sora could happen to someone like _Naruto_. Sora was now in a hunched over position, his human features almost all gone. He opened his mouth and an un-human screech/growl left his mouth as a mass of chakra surrounded him.

Yamato-taichou yelled, "Get away from it! It's an attack!"

The blond jumped out of the way along with everyone else. She felt a blast of heat and pain as the sonic attack finished out. A pause was had as the smoke cleared to show a 30 foot in diameter crater.

She sucked in a breath of air as she felt a flutter pass by in a flash of orange. Naruto ran towards Sora, "Snap out of it!" He went to punch the seemingly-mindless Sora and got a similar treatment as Kiba had.

He slammed into the side of the freshly-created crater.

Naruto growled and picked himself up, "Sora! You can fight it, I know you can!" He ran towards his newest friend and grabbed him by the shoulders, "C'mon man! Remember the fun we had at-!"

A clawed and burning chakra covered hand gabbed him by the throat and thrust him into the crater's side. He choked and grabbed at the arm before being released, sucking in air and coughing from the dust and lack of oxygen. '_Dammit…'_ "Sora…"

Naruto coughed one more time and wiped his chin before walking towards Sora again, "Please, you have to remember who you are!" the blond boy grabbed the Kyuubi-influenced teen by the shoulders, "You can't let that fur-ball win! Don't let it control you!"

Sora growled, the four-tail's soulless eyes returned his gaze. Naruto held tighter, feeling his hands burn. He gritted his teeth, holding off the pain. "Please…"

Yamato-taichou and the others of the rookie nine watched uneasily as everything panned out in front of them.

Naruto felt his teeth and nails grow as the Kyuubi's chakra ran over his hands from Sora's body, and started to react to the real thing. He cringed as his skin burned. He growled out, "Sora!"

Yamato-taichou moved quickly, "_Hokage-shiki Jijun Jutsu - Kakuan Nitten Suishu_!" He leapt forward as the kanji for sit appeared on his hand.

Naruto felt Yamato-taichou slam his hand onto his back and jump away. The blond was boggled as he felt nothing happen and Yamato was equally confused. The captain jumped back up, "What in the world?" he looked at his hand confused and then back to Naruto and Sora.

Naruto cringed as he felt Kyuubi's influence. A dark chuckle reverberated in his mind.

_**Yes… the anger, the hate! Give in and I shall help you take care of this… imposter.**_

Naruto growled and jumped away from Sora in his three-tailed form. He fought with himself and pulled out a piece of Sora's gauntlet, "Like hell, fur-ball!" He plunged the piece of metal into his leg, echoing his actions when he promised himself that he would never run away from a battle again, "I won't let you control me anymore! No go back into your cage and leave me _alone_!"

Kyuubi growled, _**You'll regret this, brat…**_

Much to Yamato and the other's amazement, the Kyuubi chakra that had surrounded Naruto dissipated. Naruto gasped, his skin showing random huge burns. He pushed himself into a standing position and walked over to Sora slowly and painfully once more, grabbing him by the shoulders once more. "Sora… You need to remember… REMEMBER! SORA!"

_The monks stared at him coldly, separated from them and looked down upon._

_He hated the feeling._

_Slowly, the figures of the monks started fading away, 'Who… am I?'_

's..a..'

'_What am I?' the boy clung to his knees tighter._

'so…a'

_The darkness closed in around him, 'Who… who is calling me..?'_

'So..Ra..'

_The boy looked up towards the ever shrinking pin of light, 'Who… is it? What do you… want?'_

'Sora… SORA! REMEMBER!'

_Light burst through as a hand appeared in front of him, a shock of blond hair blinding him in the sudden light. Naruto smiled at him, "_Sora… c'mon. Don't let it win. Don't you remember?"

_Sora blinked and took Naruto's hand, harrumphing grumpily, "What are you talking about, looser?"_

_Behind Naruto the rookie nine slowly appeared with smiles on their faces, "_If you go back, you'll understand."

_Sora gave Naruto an irritated look before-_

He opened his eyes and blinked, trying to lighten the glare of the early evening light, "Wha…?"

Naruto smiled exhausted, "I'm glad… you're back."

Sora sniffed, "Whatever… looser…" Black enveloped the young monk once more.

Naruto followed shortly thereafter.

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It had been two days since Sora had left on his own to explore the world.

Ino felt a sense of loss at not being able to remember where she put Naruto's jacket. It had started to really piss her off, but she was too prideful to actually ask Naruto if he remembered or knew where it was.

She figured he'd been through enough at the time to just not remember at all.

The three-pronged kunai sat in her lap as she fingered it carefully, its edges still holding a sharpness to them that could still cut skin, as she contemplated. A light chilly wind came from her window and caressed her in an oddly comforting embrace.

Suddenly, it wasn't quite so chilly and she felt something warm envelop her from behind. She sat up straight before turned to see Naruto crouching in her window awkwardly. "Uh… Hi Ino-chan." he smiled nervously, regretting the fact he wasn't able to make a clean escape.

Ino blinked, "Naruto-kun…" her expression changed to agitated, "You do realize that it's improper to go to a lady's room through her window, right?"

Naruto sat on the ledge and blushed while rubbing the back of his head, "Uh, well, sorta…"

He wasn't looking at her but the floor. She shifted the warm cloth he'd put on her and put her arms through the all-too-familiar sleeves, "What do you mean by 'sorta'? Are you serious?"

Naruto chuckled awkwardly, "Well, I mean… I know most things because of Ero-sennin being slapped for doing inappropriate things, and some things I just observed, but uh…"

Ino stared at him, "Oh my gosh, you've never been given a proper lesson in etiquette that could be considered common sense?" she smacked her forehead, "No wonder Sakura gets so frustrated with you… and.. And no wonder you never notice Hinata!"

Naruto tilted his eyes and scrunched them all fox like as he sat beside her on her bed, "What do you mean by that? Hinata-chan looks at me funny? I mean, I know she stutters and crap but-"

Ino whacked him on the head, "Idiot, she's liked you for years now! She's just to shy to tell you she likes you!"

Naruto blinked confused, "Well, I like her too but…"

Ino gave him a look, "She likes you like you like Sakura."

He paused before his eyes widened a bit, "What!? Are you serious?! She's so… creepy, and she-"

Ino waved a hand, "Yes yes, say what you want, but it doesn't change the fact the poor girl has liked you since we were in the Academy."

Naruto paused and thought a bit, recollecting all the weird stuff Hinata did around him. Now it all made sense, "So, she passes out because of me too?"

Ino nodded, "Yup."

Naruto sighed heavily, "Well that sucks."

Ino smirked, "Yeah well, that's just how things happen sometimes…"

The two sat in silence a moment before Ino spoke up, "So, do you need me to teach you how to properly treat a girl?"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow, "Uh, do I treat girls badly?"

The blond girl sighed heavily. It was going to be a long day, she knew it. "Ok Naruto… let me start with this…"

Two hours and one rather scarred 15-year-old-boy and embarrassed 15-year-old-girl later, and you had one spectacularly awkward atmosphere.

Naruto cleared his throat, "Well uh, thanks for clearing all that up for me…"

Ino huffed, exhausted, "Better now then never. Now get out so I can rest."

Naruto grinned and saluted, "Yes ma'am." With that the boy jumped out the window with a little more speed than he might have usually left normally.

Ino slumped and put the tree-pronged kunai back into its box and then laid back on her bed. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily before she curled onto her side, "Naruto, you doofus…"

She fingered the hem of her sleeve, before a moment of brilliance struck her.

Naruto had returned the jacket to her.

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Sorry for a short chapter and… being rather anti-climactic.. Though that's my opinion. You'll have to let me know… and if you haven't watched the Sora arc, you better so you can understand just all of what was really going on at the time and.. Yeah. What I was hoping to move me forward in plot road blocked me… and I never did go back to re-watch the episodes. But hey, at least I finally figured out how to start this chapter, even if I jumped a huge chunk of episode-related plot.

I got the job, and my computer's been acting pissy. Fun times, fun times.

Oh yeah, and Kishimoto's suddenly giving us PLOT! EPIC PLOT! So… that's also been a part of why I haven't updated. Yet, he's taking his sweet time so.. I'll try and think of something so I can update next week instead of leaving you all hanging with such a short chapter.

Sorry about that… -sigh- (I really hope Kakashi isn't dead…)

..HOLY CRAP, FFNET CHANGED IT'S ACCOUNT LAYOUT!! HOLY CRAP!!! _**HOLY CRAP!!!**_

_**Please review!**_


	13. Girl Talks and Tracking 101

Say what? 2 updates in one day? Preposterous!

..Oh wait. It actually happened? APOCALYPSE!

Just after submitting chapter 12, I thought of what to do next… so may as well write it now. -shrugs-

Oh yeah, and Ebisu's mental run-through this week's chapter? Awesome. I'm glad Kishimoto went into the change of mind of the older ninja towards Naruto. One final thing. I'm going with the assumption Kurenai's pregnant. I don't remember if it was a contemplation or not, but I was sort of thinking along those lines at the time so.. -shrugs- If you don't agree with me, that's fine, because we really don't know.

I actually proofread, but it doesn't mean I caught everything.

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_If we go we go the distance we go all out.  
And if you force us to fight we go for the knockout.  
We haven't always been the same men we are today.  
It took fire to purify us what didn't burn is what remained. _

The Wedding, _**I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, **__Polarity_

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Sakura laughed at Ino who glowered at her friend annoyed. She ate her dango grumpily, contemplating her wisdom in telling Sakura about the other day…

"You.. You.. Aha… you actually had to _tell_ him about..!?"

Ino glared, "As his teammate, that was really _your_ responsibility, forehead."

Sakura paused and choked, realizing in a deep blush that her friend was right, "Oh.. Oh my gosh! I'm his teammate, I should have known better then-! But I would have thought Jiraiya-sama would have.. Or Kakashi-sensei.."

Ino stared at Sakura blankly. The pink haired girl cringed, "…What?"

"You do realize both persons you just mentioned are perv's, right?"

Sakura blinked, "Oh, right… But, what about Iruka-sensei, or the Academy in general? We learned about it then.."

More blank staring, "What!?!"

Ino sighed, "You know how well Naruto did in school, right?"

Sakura nodded, "Yeah, so?" pause, "Oh… Oh he did bad in the academy, didn't he? I almost forgot, honestly."

"I never saw him with a textbook, and I happen to have the odd inkling he might not… have been in class that day. I think he was ditching with Shikamaru and Chouji…"

Sakura slapped her forehead, "I've been such an idiot! Here I've been reprimanding him by _slapping_ him without even explaining _why_ something was perverted or wrong… man, no wonder he never understands why I get so pissed with him…"

Ino rubbed her cheek, "I'm pretty sure his sexy no jutsu was for more then just turning people on too…"

Sakura paused, "What? Are you serious? That technique is so vulgar and.."

"And it works against perverts, doesn't it?"

The pink haired kunoichi pondered this, "Well, yes…. But…"

Ino waved a hand, "Well, there you go. I remember while growing up that Naruto was treated pretty badly… though it seems a lot of the adult ninja have come to respect him a lot…"

Sakura nodded, "I've noticed that too… but still! How can you say that technique actually has a use?"

Ino thought a moment, "Well, he is the most surprising ninja isn't he? If the time comes and it's needed, he'll use it. End of story. So please, if he does actually use it in battle, don't hit him for it…"

Sakura sighed, "Alright, alright… I'll try to make sure Naruto understands my feelings… _after_ I punish him of course, but I will make sure he _gets_ it."

The blond sighed and nodded her head.

Sakura drank some of her tea, "So, what gender do you think it'll be?"

Ino blinked at the switch of conversation, "Huh?"

"Kurenai… y'know. Do you think she'll have a boy or a girl?"

The blond med-nin thought it over, "Well, I think it's fine either way… though it'd be kinda nice if she had-"

"It's a boy."

Both girls jumped at the voice and turned just in time for Naruto to sit down at their little table with a serious, yet apologetic look on his face. He knew girl talks were a no-no to walk into, but he'd overheard, and… well…

"Naruto!"

The blond boy held up his hands, "I won't stay long, I promise!"

The girls sighed exasperated but they decided they'd tolerate him. Sakura spoke first, "Why do you say that so confidently?"

Naruto tapped his nose as he sat in a confident position, "Just a guess."

Ino quirked her eyebrow, "Wait a second. Can you actually smell better then a normal person, or… or even Kiba?"

Sakura pondered this too, "Can you?"

Naruto tensed up a little, "I, uh… I don't know. It's not like I could honestly estimate that myself…"

The two girls looked at one another before turning back to Naruto. Ino spoke up first, "I've got a plan."

Naruto's eyes widened, "Wha!?" He raised his hands in partial surrender, "Wait a second! I came here to talk about something kind of important…"

Ino lent back in her chair, "What is it?"

Naruto fidgeted for a moment, "I uh…" he looked at Sakura for a moment, trying to decide if he really wanted to talk about this in front of her, but ultimately decided he may as well… otherwise, Sakura wouldn't leave him the hell alone about it. "I've been having this weird re-occurring dream the past couple of days… It's part of why I went to visit you the other day but I uh…. Got sidetracked…"

Ino blushed lightly. Oh, the sex talk was going to haunt the two of them for a while, "Right. Go on."

Naruto nodded, "So… I keep dreaming about this red-haired chick. She isn't always the same age, but I know it's the same girl."

Ino's eyes widened and she felt herself pale. Was he serious? That almost sounded like… but… that shouldn't be possible, right?

Sakura spoke, "So you've been dreaming about some girl? What's so important about that?"

Naruto sighed, "It's just, it's… hard to explain. She has this patch on her sleeve like I do, and she kind of acts like me, but… doesn't. I don't know what to think of it all. She's also wearing a hitai-ate, but it's blank… and that bothers me. I've tried to figure out what it could mean but…"

Ino finally caught up to herself, "So she appears at different ages?"

Naruto nodded, contemplating comically, "Yeah, like… sometimes she's 12, and then she's 18... But then she's 14, and just… it's weird. It's like seeing random moments of someone's life, and she has weird conversations with me…"

Ino leaned forward, interested, "Like what?"

Naruto paused, "Well… she asks me how I'm doing sometimes, or she talks about a waterfall… She's talked about the Fourth Hokage too, but when she talks about him it's never for very long."

Ino looked rubbed an arm and looked at the table, '_This is just impossible._'

Sakura watched Ino, "Do you know something?"

The blond kunoichi sighed heavily and tiredly, "I… I think he…" she looked at Naruto, "I think you're dreaming about your mother…"

Sakura and Naruto paused, but the pink haired girl spoke first, "What? Are you serious? That just isn't possible is it?" she looked at her teammate, "Have you even met your mother before?"

Naruto snapped out of a daze and looked at Sakura confused, "No! No, I.. I don't know anything about her. I don't even know what she looks like! Let alone her name or… or anything really…" He honestly forget he ever actually _had_ parents at all.

_She really was rather wild… nice, but wild._

He growled and pushed his Itachi-psyche to the back of his head. He didn't need to start growling and grumbling around the two girls, which would only make them freak out. He'd recently learned how animalistic his growl _actually_ was.

Ino rubbed a temple, "Naruto?"

"What?"

"Do you think I could maybe… read your memories of these dreams you've been having? Just so I can make sure?"

Naruto paused a moment, "Uh… well… she has said some embarrassing things and…" Ino stared at him a moment blankly, "Oh.. Oh right. Right, ok. I, I guess you could… though I don't know if it'll actually work…"

Ino blinked, "Why not?"

"Didn't you try to get into Sora's head when he went berserk?"

Ino paused and suddenly came to a realization, "Wait, so even if your in control, I might still end up repelled by-?!"

Naruto nodded, "Maybe, I'm not sure…"

Ino sighed, defeated. She had no desire to be repelled by _that_ again, "I.. I guess I'll leave it for now. If you can, would you please write down as much detail as you can about the dream, if you see her again?"

Naruto nodded, "Sure."

There was a pause between the three before Sakura piped up, "So Ino… what was this plan you had…?"

Ino paused before she smirked, "Well, I was thinking that maybe we could…"

It was then that Naruto learned the hard way how crafty and evil women could be.

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Kiba growled as he stood at the 'starting line' next to Naruto, "This is bullshit."

Naruto sighed forlornly, "I know."

"Why did I agree to this? Wait, why did you?"

"Hell if I know, _dattebayo_."

Kiba scratched his head, "Why would the girls think you have a better sense of smell then _me_? That's just a damn insult to me, let alone my clan…"

Naruto laughed nervously, "Well, I said something and well… here we are."

Kiba gave him a look, "Just what did you tell-"

"Ok boys! We're ready!"

Kiba cringed at Ino's screech/yell, "Could you watch the decibels, girl!?"

Ino growled, "Shut it dog-face! Now, you have to track down _this_."

She held up a cloth for the two of them to sniff. The two boys looked at each other before sniffing the item. Naruto did this more awkwardly, since he was simply _not_ used to… sniffing… things.

Naruto blinked, '_Why are we tracking down-_'

Ino back away from the two, "Alright, you boys ready?"

Kiba smirked and scoughed, "More then ready, this is totally won."

The blond girl rolled her eyes as Naruto nodded, "Yeah, sure…"

Naruto was feeling a little degraded at the moment. He didn't know why, but somehow it felt like this was so below him…

_**That's because this is damn well embarrassing brat. I can't believe you let it slip that you have a decent nose. Idiot.**_

Naruto sighed, he couldn't even gain refuge in his own mind.

Ino held a head up, "Ready…?! GO!"

Kiba jumped into the nearby foliage and started tracking the designated prey. Naruto, oddly un-enthusiastic, shuffled along for a moment before Ino whacked him on the head, "Hurry up!"

The boy held a hand up, "Alright, alright, I'm going!" With that, he jumped into the foliage a few feet away from where Kiba did.

Five noted dead-ends later, and Naruto found himself in a clearing alone with Tenten who was cleaning some of her weaponry. He walked over behind her with his hands in his pockets, "Hey Tenten."

She jumped and looked up behind her to find Naruto. She blinked in surprise, "Naruto! You…arrived first?"

He felt himself break out in cold sweat, "R-really? I got here first?" He laughed nervously, "Must have been luck…"

She quirked an eyebrow before Ino and Sakura came into the clearing. They paused as they saw Naruto but no Kiba. Ino walked over, "You made it first?"

Naruto shrugged, "I was probably just lucky-"

Kiba jumped out of the foliage, "GOAL!"

The four rookie nine members looked at Kiba with perplexed looks on their faces. He blushed first from feeling awkward, but then anger and pointed, "YOU! How the hell'd you get here first!? You cheated!"

Naruto felt himself get angry as he growled out, "_Kiba_…"

Ino stepped forward and put out her arms, "Boys, boys…" she looked to Kiba, "How many dead ends did you find?"

The dog-boy scratched his nose, "Four."

The blond kunoichi looked to Naruto, "You?"

"Uh… five."

Sakura's eyes widened as did Tenten's. Ino simply processed all of this in her mind, "Kiba? How many of the dead end paths did you follow?"

"Uh… two?"

Ino turned to Naruto for his answer, "Uhm… I just took note of them and came straight to this path. I could kind of tell which one was the freshest, though it took a few minutes to tell…"

Kiba lunged at Naruto, "That's impossible! You-"

Sakura sucker-punched Kiba in the face, making him shut up, "Oh stop it."

Kiba held his nose with tears in his eyes, "_Bitch…_"

Sakura glared at him as Inner-Sakura screamed, '_Kick his ass, SHANNARO!!!_'

Kiba backed away, not wanting to experience pain so quickly, "I was joking!"

Sakura shook a fist at him, "You'd better have been…"

Tenten paused, "So, Naruto has a better nose then Kiba?"

Ino sighed, "It seems that way…"

Silence hung over the small group of five for a few moments before Kiba spoke up, "It's still bullshit."

Naruto simply nodded in exasperation. He really didn't want this sort of info known, and of all people, known by _Kiba_…

"It's 'cause of the fox, right?"

Naruto glared at Kiba as his anger suddenly exploded and punched him, "Shut up!"

Sakura grabbed Naruto before he could move to create more damage, "Naruto!"

The blond boy growled deeply in Kiba's direction before slapping the side of his face and holding a hand over his eye. Sakura was close enough to notice his eyes had slits, "Naruto…"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and relaxed himself, "…Sorry."

Sakura slowly released his arm as her friend tried to recollect himself. Kiba brushed himself off, "You didn't have to _hit_ me for that…"

Ino growled and huffed out, "And you didn't have to bring up you-know-what. That was _so_ unnecessary flea-boy."

Kiba growled, "I don't have flea's!"

Ino quirked a brow, "Oh?"

Kiba blushed and turned, "I don't have to take this crap. See ya."

With that Kiba stormed off, leaving a somewhat shaken Naruto behind. The blond was going to have a hard time sleeping tonight, he just knew it…

Sakura looked Naruto over, making sure he was feeling alright before she suddenly noticed something. She moved in front of him and pulled some of his hair, causing him to speak up in protest, "Oy!"

The pink haired girl cupped his face in her hand, examining him critically. This of course caused Naruto to blush and Ino to feel oddly… jealous. "Forehead… what are you..?"

"Have you been letting some of your hair grow out, Naruto-kun?"

The blond boy blinked, "Uh well… kind of…?"

Tenten stood beside the younger kunoichi and joined Sakura in her examination, "You know, now that you say it, he does sort of look like someone… but I can't really… explain why he looks… familiar? Like someone else I should know?"

Sakura looked to Tenten and released Naruto's face, "Exactly! I noticed it earlier in the tea shop, but now it's bothering me more and I just can't place it…"

Ino momentarily freaked, "You guys are probably just imagining it…" she laughed nervously.

The two girls and Naruto looked at her curiously, "Ino…?"

Ino shrugged and smiled, "How about I treat you to some ramen, Naruto?"

Naruto jumped, "YEAH!!! Ramen! HERE I COME!" he grabbed her and ran off, leaving behind a baffled Tenten and Sakura. Ino couldn't help but smile, glad that she successfully got Naruto off the train of thought of her hair-styling…

He'd notice sooner or later, but she'd rather keep him in the dark, especially since…

…since it was her experiment and inquiry as well.

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Two chapters. I hope this one was better then the last. Tell me how you enjoyed it!

_**Please Review!!!**_


	14. Author Note & Short Story

Well everyone, I think it's about time I gave you the run-down on what's going to happen with this story.

At this point, I cannot continue it- especially with where the manga is concerned. I have been waiting all of this time, and I simply cannot figure out how to continue on while this current arc keeps going on with Pein.

Thus, I have come to the decision to end the story here, and to begin anew, using some of the things left behind in this story.

Though, I suppose I'm getting ahead of myself in my explanation. As of October, I got a job. I had to have time to get used to it. I think sometime in November was when the current Pain-and-Konoha arc occurred, and ever since I've been trying to ride it out to see how it concludes, but as those of you up-to-date can see… it's not going to be ending for a while.

In January I had 2 jobs, and I lost lots of creativity time, and during the end of December through now, I've been figuring out what to do, and the final decision is this in better terms:

-I want to continue the story, but I find I cannot since it is too close to the manga.

-To continue, I have to end this story by leaving it incomplete.

-The best way to go about this, is to write a whole new story, yet use themes I created/brought up in Hold Fast Hope.

-I want to do a better job of writing this couple/story.

So, in short, I will be doing a whole new story that will fall back onto things that happened in this one. The new story won't really be a sequal, but it would still be good to have read this story first to appreciate the re-working of this pairing and the story I spun as of so far.

-sighs- so yes. Finally, after about 2 weeks of deciding this, I've finally decided I should tell you all. I regret that I can't continue this story, but it will be much easier on me and probably all of you if I simply restart with a new timeline, and not hang onto the teathers of the manga.

Ok, I think that's about it. I will be starting this new story soon, and I will try to be good about updating.

Hope to see you all in the new story. (and sorry if I went in circles in my explanation. DX I didn't mean to.)

* * *

I'm in the LJ community 31_Days, and since I didn't want to leave you guys off with simply an A/N, I will write a short something using the prompt of the day.

February 16th, Naruto, Haunting Moon

Title: Haunting Moon

Day/Theme: Feb 16th, Change our bones to gases

Series: Naruto

Characters/Pairing: Naruto/Ino

Rating: G

She sat tracing his pale features under the moonlit stairs, hidden by their feeble planks.

Her hand caressed his hair like spun gold, its feel almost and yet not quite human. She wondered how having a beast sealed within caused one's physical nature to change as each year passed, and wondered not for the first time, if perhaps he might never get the chance to die like anyone else.

If perhaps one day, he might become a spirit, leaving his mortal flash and bones behind and becoming a manifestation of chakra, particles, and gas- all in the Kyuubi's feeble attempt to preserve itself in one shape or another.

She wondered, if perhaps, he might become something new.

But for now, all she had was him, and she would love and nurture every aspect of his being, even so far as long after she herself had been dead and buried.


End file.
